Chad
Mendes is returning to combat sports, but his next fight won’t
be inside the Octagon.
The former UFC title challenger revealed on “The Joe
Rogan Experience” that he has signed a multi-fight contract
with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Mendes is expected to
compete at 155 pounds and has targeted Chandler, Ariz., on Oct. 22
for his BKFC debut.
“I just signed a big contract – I’m coming back to fighting,”
Mendes told Rogan. “But I’m not coming back to MMA. … I’m coming
back to boxing. I want to try something different. I think we’re
going to throw some bareknuckle in there, bro – just mix it up
and get real crazy. This is something that’s kind of been in the
works for probably a year now.”
According to a report from
MMAjunkie.com, the contract is “the most lucrative deal” of
Mendes’ fighting career. The Team Alpha Male product had existing
fights on his UFC contract but was granted his release by the Las
Vegas-based promotion to sign with BKFC.
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.Mendes is 18-5 as a pro in MMA, 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.