UFC 232 fight to watch: Mendes vs Volkanovski
It’s never easy to bounce back from a suspension (unless you’re Jon Jones) and in fact, it’s rather normal to encounter some struggles and experience ring rust as you are returning after a long lay-off.
The next UFC fighter who is challenged with mounting a comeback to the top of his division following a suspension is former top featherweight contender Chad Mendes. Mendes popped for the banned GHRP-6, also known as growth-hormone releasing hexapeptide in June 2016, and received a two-year suspension from USADA.
At the time, Mendes had just suffered back to back stoppage losses to Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar and claimed that he was considering taking some time off anyway, so he took the suspension on the chin and temporarily hung up his gloves to regroup and prepare himself for perhaps another run at the title in the featherweight division.
Despite the timing of the suspension, Mendes was always one of the most respected fighters in the organization and now his name would forever be associated with testing positive and essentially cheating. Innocent mistake or not, that asterisk would be there for the foreseeable future and would certainly pose a mental obstacle that he will have to overcome every time he steps into the octagon.
Mendes’ comeback tour began earlier this year in July when he took on the tricky Myles Jury (17-2) and dispatched him in confident fashion with a first-round TKO. This later earned him a performance of the night bonus. “Money” looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat during his time off as he dropped Jury with a clean left before landing a flurry of strikes on the ground to finish off his comeback bout.
The convincing victory saw Mendes climb straight back into the top five of the stacked featherweight division and set up what looks to be an explosive fight with No. 10 ranked Alexander Volkanovski (18-1) to kick off this Saturday’s pay-per-view.
Volkanovski, who is on a 15 fight win streak (5-0 in the UFC), will be a solid test for Mendes that will determine where the former title contender stands in terms of getting close to another crack at the strap. It is key to not let the lower rank fool you by any means as Mendes will be arguably Volkanovski’s first big-name opponent and the perfect platform for the Aussie to make a statement and put the top of the division on notice.
For Mendes, this fight is more than just a fight in which a win could put him back in the title challenge conversation, it is more so a fight in which another dominant performance would validate the hard work that he has put in over the last two and a half years and prove to himself and the fans that there is still a fire and desire to win and compete at the highest level inside of him.
The UFC 232 card is stacked top to bottom with exciting fights but the comeback story and the potential effect it could have on the top of the featherweight division certainly makes Mendes vs Volkanovski one look out for.
Sports journalist based in CA, USA.
Twitter: @ArionArmeniakos
