Former UFC welterweight contender Chad Mendes
may be considering a return from retirement.
A recent Instagram post indicated as much, as the Team Alpha Male
stalwart shared a photo of a boxing session with a caption
suggesting that a comeback is imminent.
“Another hard boxing session with [Joey Rodriguez] crushed!!”
Mendes wrote. The timing, power, footwork and speed have been
coming together the last few weeks! Been loving the [Mike Tyson]
and [Canelo Alvarez] style of boxing baby!
“The itch is getting stronger and stronger! Might have to start
talking some numbers soon.”
Mendes
officially announced his retirement in 2019, some seven months
after a second-round technical knockout loss to future
featherweight champion Alexander
Volkanovski at UFC 232.
“The main reason I didn’t say something sooner was there were some
loose ends I wanted to tie up,” Mendes said then. “I wanted to step
away for a little bit and let everything settle, and just make sure
my feelings didn’t change, as I was coming right out of a training
camp and a fight.
“And they haven’t, man. It’s just that time for me. I have no
regrets. I had an amazing time, being able to come right out of
college wrestling and join an amazing team. All these guys at Team
Alpha Male are like brothers to me. It was fun. But I always said,
right off the bat, I’ll probably fight until 35 and reassess. My
wife and I spoke before this last training camp, and we knew going
in this was the last one.”
Mendes is 18-5 as a pro, with victories over the likes of Ricardo
Lamas, Clay Guida,
Darren
Elkins and Cub Swanson
during his tenure. He exited the UFC upon losing four of his final
six bouts.