Mendes thwarts Lamas at UFC Fight Night 63

MANILA, Philippines – Two-time featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes made quick work of Ricardo Lamas by stopping the fellow 145-pound contender in the UFC Fight Night 63 headliner on Sunday, April 5 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Although Lamas enjoyed some initial success with leg kicks and punches from the outside pocket, a crushing right hand from Mendes sent the 32-year-old Chicago native sagging to his knees early in the first round.

Mendes patiently stalked Lamas from one side of the Octagon to the other as he moved around his opponent and picked his spots with one damaging blow after another, including a left hook that sent “The Bully” reeling to the mat once again.

Staying on top of the action, Mendes compelled referee Dan Miragliotta to intervene at 2:45 of round one when he snuck one last left hand underneath Lamas’ armpit that snapped his head back.

“I was trying to patient, but I thought there were a few times he was pretty much done, and I figured the ref was going to stop it and didn’t,” Mendes said in his post-fight interview.

The stoppage victory over Lamas is the first win of Mendes (17-2) since his second loss to UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo this past October.

On the other hand, Lamas (15-4), who had also suffered his previous defeat in the hands of Aldo, breaks his two-fight winning streak with the setback to Mendes.

The 29-year-old Mendes may be 0-2 against the reigning featherweight king, but the Team Alpha Male product is still very much a part of the division’s title picture.

“I’ve been trying to figure out who I would fight after this. The only thing that makes sense in my mind is back for that title,” he stated.

Aldo is set to defend the his featherweight belt versus Conor McGregor at UFC 189 on July 11 (July 12 in PH), while the winner of the featherweight super-fight between Frankie Edgar and Mendes’ teammate Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night 66 on May 16 could be next in line to face the victor of the aforementioned championship clash.

“We’ll be watching the Frankie-Faber fight and the Aldo-McGregor fight very closely and just hoping that I can get in there and fight for that title soon. If that’s not the case, I’ll probably take a fight,” Mendes stressed.

– Rappler.com