Chad Mendes: A Haunting Failure Ignites A Bright Future

By Frank Curreri

Randy Couture once said that he might never have journeyed into MMA had he reached the pinnacle of the wrestling world. But Captain America fell short of his most cherished goals on the mat: He never claimed an NCAA wrestling title (finishing as national runner-up twice) and never won an Olympic medal (though he was a three-time Olympic Wrestling Team alternate). While most would proudly flaunt such a distinguished resume, the emotional void of those unrequited ambitions helped fuel the fire that vaulted Couture to stardom and five UFC titles in two weight classes.

Chad Mendes feels Couture’s pain and has blazed a similar path into MMA. The explosive and unbeaten featherweight (5-0) said he lies in bed some nights replaying the unforgiving memory of his 5-2 loss in the 2008 NCAA Division I finals. A mere six months after that colossal disappointment, Mendes made his MMA debut, choking out his opponent in the first round. A training partner of Urijah Faber, Mendes’ stock has been soaring fast, as evidenced by him recently inking a six-fight deal with the WEC. Faber has publicly raved about Mendes’ incredible power and is convinced his ultra-aggressive protégé will someday win a world title.

In this revealing interview, the 24-year-old Mendes spoke about his swift-moving march toward greatness, about sharing the Cal-Poly wrestling pedigree with UFC legend Chuck Liddell, the prospect of maybe fighting Faber, his mentor, down the road, and how soon he expects to settle atop the 145-pound weight class.

WEC: Now, you finished as national runner up in Division I wrestling two years ago. Is there still a sting from that loss? Is that going to eat at you for years to come? Some guys never get over those kinds of losses. You talk to Dan Gable 30 years after his loss to Larry Owings and it still bothers him. Will time eventually heal it? Do you think MMA will help you get over it?
Mendes: MMA definitely helps a little bit and that’s one of the reasons why I got into MMA because I still had that drive and I never reached the top. I wanted to be the best wrestler in my weight class in the nation and I was this close (holds fingers close together). Some people will argue it was a controversial call and (J.) Jaggers is a tough guy, but I honestly felt like I was better than him. So that’s what eats at me the most, just knowing I was that close … Yeah, it’s definitely going to haunt me for the rest of my life a little bit. Sometimes I’ll be laying in bed before I go to sleep and I’ll start thinking about that and I catch myself all tensed up and going over the moves and the situations in my head and I tell myself to calm down and relax. So I think that’s going to be with me for a long time. Hopefully I’ll reach some of my goals in MMA and kind of get that out of my mind a little bit.

WEC: You’re nursing a broken hand. Tell us about that broken hand, how you acquired it and how soon you expect to be back in action.
Mendes: I had a fight on the eighth of (October). It was the beginning of the second round and I had taken him down and he was getting up and I went for a big uppercut and caught that first knuckle on his forehead and it broke the bone. It was pretty bad, it was shattered. I had to get eight screws and a plate put in.

It was a three-round fight so I went the rest of the fight with it, but I didn’t really throw the right hand the rest of the way. I got the ‘W’ but came out with a broken hand.

I’m doing all the same stuff that Urijah did (to rehab). I’ve got a bone stimulator in here with ultrasound hooked up to it. That’s supposed to make the bone heal like 40 percent faster.

Urijah said to be patient. It’s hard for me to just sit around, especially since I’ve been doing wrestling since I was 5 years old. I just have to be patient because if the hand doesn’t heal properly I’m not going to be able to fight, so I’ve got to let it heal.

WEC: You’ve signed a six-fight deal with the WEC. There is already a lot of buzz that surrounds you even though you only have five fights. Are you surprised that you have signed on with the biggest organization in the world for your weight class so soon?
Mendes: Before I started training and fighting I thought that I would do well in the sport. But once I started training and getting in there I kind of thought it might not happen until further along in my career.

WEC: Do you currently have a nickname?
Mendes: I have one all of these guys gave me. It’s “MoneyShot.” They say it’s because of my takedowns and my right hand.

WEC: What do you want your opponents to remember about you after fighting you?
Mendes: For me it’s complete domination. I want to be able to just dominate the guy for the entire fight. You see top guys like Georges St. Pierre who gets in there and completely controls the fight for the entire time. That’s a goal of mine. When I train, I bust my butt so that when I do get in there, I want the fight to go my way the entire time.

WEC: Obviously, you’re an exceptional wrestler, national runner-up. What else comes most natural to you in MMA and where have you really had to work?
Mendes: I’ve been fighting growing up a lot – shouldn’t have been doing it. I had a lot of brothers so I got in a lot of fistfights with them, too, so throwing hands is not super uncomfortable for me. The ground game came the quickest and is what’s most comfortable for me, but I’m learning standup, too.

WEC: I’m noticing a little crookedness of your nose. Did you, in fact, ever break your nose and how did you do that?
Mendes: Yeah, I’ve broken my nose probably about 7 or 8 times in my life. I started wrestling when I was 5 years old and I’ve caught elbows and headbutts and punches on accident. I think the first time I broke it was maybe in sixth grade and then re-broke it a few times in practice and a couple times in competition.

WEC: How did you come to MMA? Did Urijah and his team recruit you or did you seek them out?
Mendes: I’ve known Urijah since I was like a junior or senior in high school. He actually recruited me when he worked as a coach at Cal-Davis. I ended up going to Cal-Poly. My coach at Cal-Poly puts on a wrestling camp each summer … so Urijah worked there and … so every summer I’d get to work with Urijah for however many weeks. My freshman summer of college, I think he had about two or three fights under his belt and was just getting into it. So at that camp he was rolling around and doing some jiu-jitsu and none of the other wrestlers wanted to roll with him because he kept hurting them. The way Urijah is, he’s real physical and stuff and so a lot of the guys didn’t like it. But I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll try it’ and I started rolling around with it and I kind of fell in love with it then.

Urijah always told me, ‘Finish your college career, do as good as you can and then I’ve got a place for you to stay. And that’s exactly what he did. He took me under his wing and I got to stay at his house until I got some money in the bank and my feet underneath me a little bit. He didn’t charge me any rent. He has been coaching me and has been a great friend.

WEC: Now, Cal-Poly has a little bit of history in MMA. A certain guy named Chuck Liddell being the biggest name to come out of the Cal-Poly wrestling program. How well do you know Chuck and has he ever given you any advice or encouragement regarding MMA?
Mendes: I know Chuck pretty well, he used to actually come and work out with the team a few times when I was there. He’d come to a lot of the dual meets and he’s a great supporter of Cal-Poly wrestling. He’s a cool guy. He never really asked me to stay there but he told Urijah like a week ago that the main reason he didn’t want me to stay there (near Cal-Poly) is he just didn’t have the time to take me under his wing like Urijah did. Plus there weren’t a lot of guys my size at his training camp, there are a lot of bigger guys, so I think going up to train with Urijah was a smarter move on my part.

WEC: You’ve had five fights. You’ve fought some guys with winning records and experience. But did you intentionally say, let’s build me right. Let’s slowly gradually build the quality of my opponents. How have you constructed your career so far?
Mendes: Yeah, we’ve definitely done that. The difference between me and a guy like Joe Warren is that Joe is a little bit older and further along in his career so he can’t really take the time to take smaller fights and try to build up, he has to jump right into it. And he has the skill level to be up there anyways. Me, I’m young. I was 23 when I started, so me and my managers and Urijah want to be smart about this and build up my record and take it one fight at a time, progressively getting a tougher guy each time until I make it to the WEC.

WEC: When did you first realize you had knockout power? Was it in the gym?
Mendes: I’d say probably freshman year in college. I got into a lot of fights in college and got into a little bit of trouble. But in college I knocked a few guys out. I’ve always fought growing up with my brothers and stuff and they were always bigger than me. But developing my technique with Urijah and my coaches, that helps a lot, too.

WEC: Five fights into your career, what have those fights taught you about yourself?
Mendes: My last fight was the first time I had five minute rounds, all my other ones were three-minute rounds. Moving up to that next level, to the five-minute rounds, was a big step. Conditioning wise I felt great and could have kept going if my hand wasn’t broken. So I gained confidence in my cardio and my conditioning.

WEC: Why fight?
Mendes: A lot of people ask that. I’ve got my college degree in kinesiology. But I’ve been competing my whole life and my goal was to be an NCAA national champion and I was this close to reaching it. I’m not done competing. Things might have been different if I would have won nationals.

For a wrestler after college the only thing left is the Olympics and it’s tough to make it. Unless you’re the number one guy on the ladder you’re not going to be making a lot of money and it’s going to be tough living. I wanted to make some money and I’ve always loved fighting. Man against man, nothing better than that.

WEC: Let’s look ahead: You’ve got a 6-fight deal. You might fight in March, most probably by March, and no opponent has been named. What do you hope to accomplish in the WEC in the next one or two years?
Mendes: Well I’m hoping by 2011 that I’ll be going for a title shot and maybe have the belt by then. But I’ll take it one fight at a time and see what happens.

WEC: What about the prospect of fighting Urijah someday. You guys are both in the 145-pound weight class, though it’s always possible Urijah could drop to 135 pounds, even though he looks pretty big right now. Have you guys ever talked about fighting?
Mendes: We’ve never really talked about. I’ve thought about it and I’m sure he has, too, because it’s definitely a possibility. But honestly, I’d be willing to do it if the money was right and if it was for a title shot. If it wasn’t for a title I don’t think I would do it. But, you know, this is all work. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to like each other after the fight or even during the fight. I don’t know, I guess we’ll just see when the time comes.