Editor’s Note: Thanks to Akhilesh Gannavarapu and our friends at SportsKeeda.com for providing us with his interview with UFC Featherweight, Chad Mendes.

Chad Mendes is challenging UFC Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo for the title at UFC 179. My colleague Ratish Menon and I sat down with Mendes to discuss his fight with Jose Aldo, the featherweight crown, Irish sensation Conor McGregor and More.

Ratish Menon: You were an All – American in wrestling before you began your career in MMA, like many of the top stars in the sport right now. What do you attribute this kind of success for amateur wrestlers in the sport of MMA to?

Chad Mendes: There are a lot of things that transfer well from wrestling to MMA. I think one of the main things is the mentality. Fighting is a growing sport and it takes a lot of discipline, a lot of the ability to push through the red line that can come with taxing your body and your mind. I think wrestling teaches you to push through that, when a lot of guys would give up. Another thing that I think transfers well is you get to learn a lot about your body. With the guys who haven’t wrestled, the whole weight-cutting thing is completely new to them while in wrestling, there’s a lot of weight management and you get to learn what works for your body and what doesn’t work, which helps well in preparing for MMA too.

Akilesh Gannavarapu: You have gone from being a very top – heavy wrestling – based fighter to a well – rounded fighter in the last couple of years. How confident are you with your stand up game heading into a duel against probably the most well rounded fighter in the featherweight division?

CM: I feel very good going into this fight. I have top-level wrestling, I mean if there were levels in wrestling, I would be a black belt! And then, having Duane Ludwig come in and coach us on our striking techniques, gathered over his UFC career definitely filled that hole wherein I have mixed high-level wrestling with top-level striking and that has brought my game to this new level and I feel very confident going into this fight.

RM: With success of T J Dillashaw, Team Alpha Male is looking to add another champion to its ranks. What do you think of rivalry between your camp and Jose Aldo’s Team Unaio – How much of it is real and how much of it is media and fan created?

CM: I think this rivalry is very real. I mean, they consider themselves to be the best lightweight team in the world and we consider ourselves to be the best lightweight team in the world. We keep meeting up for the belt and we keep fighting for the championships, and I truly feel that is going to happen for years down the road. There has been things said by them in the media about us, there have been stuff that we said back to them, so I think the rivalry is real. It’s a healthy rivalry, nothing dangerous or anything but it is real. A lot of people keep asking me if it is real or is it something we are doing for show, but it isn’t. There are a lot of people on their team that don’t like us and there are a lot of guys on our team that don’t like them, so it’s definitely a real rivalry.

AG: Duane Ludwig has played a very important part in the rise of Team Alpha Male, especially in the striking department. How much of your recent development in that area would you attribute to working with someone like him?

CM: I would say a lot of it, honestly. There was a lot of stuff we were doing earlier, with my coach in Thailand, but because he couldn’t speak English too well, it was difficult to learn a lot of stuff from him, though he was a great mitt-holder. So even though we learned a lot of stuff from him, as far as game-planning and breaking things down is concerned, Duane has helped with all of that. Duane’s system is a lot different from standard, traditional striking coaches; he’s a genius when it comes to creating new stuff with striking in MMA, the guy is obsessed with it. It is what he lives for, it is his number one passion in life, so it is very rewarding when we are able to use any of that in a live situation.

RM: The last time yourself and Aldo met in the Octagon, you were handed your first and only defeat via a knee just a little after he grabbed the cage to defend against one of your takedowns. Did you have a chance to watch and reflect on it after the fight and what did you feel about the whole thing?

CM: Yeah, I have watched that fight over hundreds of times, I have studied it and gone over it. The mistake that I made was I let up with a few seconds left, something that I had learnt my entire time in wrestling never to do. I did that mistake and I paid for it. I feel, if not for that, I was winning that fight, with putting more pressure and more takedown attempts, more strikes landed with kicks. Like you said, there was a point where I clamped him and he grabbed the cage when I went to take him down, the ref should have stopped that and taken a point, but he didn’t. I truly believe that the outcome of that first round would have been different, had it not happened. Obviously things have changed since then and I have improved on many aspects of my game while he is the same fighter that I fought then. He uses the same weapons, hasn’t really changed much up, because he hasn’t had to as he has been beating everybody up with the same thing, so coming into this fight I have more of an advantage since I have changed a lot but he is fighting the exact same way.

AG: After your last fight, you were very complimentary of Jose and his abilities. However, in the buildup to this fight, there have been cracks appearing, with the incident where he shoved you at a media event. Do you think you are under his skin, going into this fight?

CM: I think so. I am definitely under his skin, in his head…exactly where I want to be. I mean, we have never seen him act like this before, against any other opponent. The pressure is on him, with him being the last Brazilian champ with the belt. He knows that I have improved and I can steal it this time. That is why, we have seen him lose his temper and shove me at the stare-down, he went to the media right after that and said that he shoved me because he had talked to his coaches beforehand and he wanted to sell the fight. If that was true, he wouldn’t have gone to the media right after that and said that, because that defeats the whole purpose. I think that is him just backpedalling, he lost his temper, lost his cool, that just made him look like an idiot and he is just trying to cover his back.

RM: Recently, you and a fellow featherweight fighter, Conor McGregor have been embroiled in a bitter feud of words. What do you make out of the Conor McGregor hype train, and his threats to knock you out in a fight?

CM: Me and Conor have been going back and forth, the guy is just a talker, has talked his way right upto the top. He hasn’t proven anything to me yet, the guy doesn’t have a ground game, gets submitted in fights. When you are getting submitted, you are giving up which means, he is weak-minded. I think I am a horrible match-up for him, he is long, lengthy and he doesn’t have a ground game. I am strong, explosive wrestler with powerful hands. He can talk all he wants; when I see Conor I see dollar signs, you know? He is building this huge hype behind him, getting the media to talk about him but when I go against him, I am going to beat the crap out of him and I am going to get paid.

AG: With the championship fights just days away, do you think Conor’s mind games are intended to throw you off your game plan? Who would you rather face if you dethrone Aldo this Saturday – Aldo or Conor?

CM: Maybe. He can try all he wants, I have been training for this fight since the first time I fought Jose Aldo in Brazil. I am so set on this fight that a little leprechaun talking is not going to throw me off my game.

Conor McGregor – I will face him after I win this fight. I don’t care what happens this Saturday; I want to fight Conor McGregor.

RM: We had recently interviewed your opponent for Saturday, and Aldo mentioned that he doesn’t think you have changed since the previous encounter. Would you like to comment on that, and how different of a fighter are you from UFC 142?

CM: He is saying that in the media, because I said that first. I mean come on, come up with something original buddy!

Obviously I have changed a lot, if you see my last few fights, so I have no idea why he is saying that.

AG: Give us a prediction of how the main event of UFC 179 is going down and given his long run at the top, do you think he would qualify for an immediate rematch if he loses the title this Saturday night?

CM: I think he would. I definitely feel he would want a rematch right away. I don’t know if the UFC would want to do that though or match me up against McGregor next, but in a perfect world I would go out there and I finish Jose Aldo fast. But he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, so while it’s something that could happen, I am well-prepared for a five round war. We have trained very hard for the fight, so I am ready for anything. So, you prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

AG: Do you have any message for the fans in India, who are rooting for Chad Mendes this Saturday night?

CM: I want to appreciate everything that you guys do for me, as far as supporting me in my fights. I do this because of you guys, as there is a lot of hard work that goes into this. Thank you very much, you guys can give me shout-outs on social media, I will try to get back to you as much as I can, thank you so much!

You can follow Chad Mendes on Twitter here, and don’t forget to tune in this Saturday (Sunday morning here in India), and witness a classic between two of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet.

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