On Wednesday, the UFC announced that the shaky UFC 189 main event between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor is still set for July 11 but if the reigning featherweight champ does pull out, #1 ranked 145 lbs. contender Chad Mendes will step in as a replacement. The news came after it was revealed Aldo had suffered a rib injury during a sparring session with lightweight prospect, Alcides Nunes.

Despite just being two weeks out from the bout, Chad Mendes is primed and ready to take on Conor McGregor for the interim featherweight title if he's ushered in as a replacement. A bout with McGregor on July 11 would mark Mendes' third challenge for the featherweight championship. 'Money' was knocked out by Jose Aldo at UFC 142 in 2012 and fell short in the rematch last year at UFC 179.

Despite his shortcomings, the Team Alpha Male representative is determined to seize the title:

"As of right now, I have to pretend I'm fighting," Mendes told MMAjunkie. "I'm training. I've got to get my weight down. I've got two weeks to cut the weight and get on point. This is going to be the craziest two weeks of my life, but it's an opportunity I'd never turn down."

Mendes has been studying McGregor since his UFC inception and believes that he can humble the outspoken Dubliner on just two weeks' notice:

"Conor is a guy I've had my eye on for a while, since he got in the UFC," Mendes said. "He's in my weight class. He's a guy that had a big draw. I knew there was going to be a time in the near future where me and this guy were going to be staring across at each other in that octagon. He's a guy I've watched - I've watched all his fights in the UFC. I've watched fights out of the UFC. I've been watching his tendencies. I've picked him apart. I've watched a lot of tape on him. It's not like I don't have a game plan.

"This is someone we've been training for since he got into the UFC. Two and a half weeks out, it's fine-tuning that game plan, going over it and getting my weight down. It's get in there and get after it. This is going to be a huge mental fight. This is a guy I know I can beat - I just have to get in there and execute my game plan."

Due to already losing to the champ twice, Mendes thought it was going to be Frankie Edgar stepping in as Aldo's replacement:

"For them to pick me, I feel like that's an honor," he said. "But Frankie's right there, and he's been on a tear. I've fought for the title against Aldo now twice, and I've lost to him. So in my mind, I was like, ‘It's probably going to be Frankie.' But obviously I know that I'm ready and I'm definitely the guy right there at the No. 1 contender spot, as well."

McGregor had beef with Mendes on UFC's Beyond the Octagon last year, where the Irishman claimed he could rest his balls on Mendes' forehead. Perhaps that's why the UFC chose Chad as a replacement over Frankie Edgar.