UFC 142 Results: 3 Questions We Have About Chad Mendes

Last night at UFC 142, Chad Mendes took on Jose Aldo in just the 12th fight of his professional career and looked to claim his first UFC title.

Unfortunately for the Team Alpha Male product, he was unable to take down the featherweight champion and after a few failed tries to get Jose Aldo to the mat, Mendes ate a huge knee to the jaw and was subsequently knocked out.

The loss was the first of Mendes’ career, and he has plenty of career left to get back on track, but there are plenty of questions remaining about the now former title contender.

Can Mendes Get Back into the Title Mix?

This is the most pressing question concerning Mendes, and it is obviously the most important.

While Mendes was dominant during his first run to a title shot, he didn’t exactly fight the cream of the crop to get it and his level of competition is going to rise considerably from here on out.

Mendes is going to fight some of the best the featherweight has to offer from this point forward and he will need to bring his A-game every time out in order to get back into title contention.

Is Wrestling No Longer Enough to Become Champion?

Over the last 12 months, we have seen a bit of a changing of the guard in the MMA world, as elite wrestlers have tried and failed to win title fights.

Much like Gray Maynard was against Frankie Edgar, Mendes was considered to have a huge advantage over Aldo if the fight got to the mat, but also like Maynard, he had a ton of trouble getting it there.

Now after getting smashed by Aldo, Mendes is going to have to make some serious changes to his game if he ever wants to be considered champion. It’s obvious that one-dimensional wrestlers have been overtaken by well-rounded mixed martial artists as of late and Mendes is going to need to add some striking and submissions to his arsenal before he gets his next shot at a belt.

Is Mendes the Second-Best Fighter at Featherweight?

While it may not happen right now, odds are that eventually Jose Aldo is going to move up to lightweight and test his luck in a much tougher division.

While Mendes is far from earning another crack at the belt at the moment, he is one of the most talented fighters in the world at 145 lbs, and he has an excellent chance at holding the belt if Aldo is no longer in the picture.

As long as Mendes is able to earn a few wins in his next few bouts, we should see him fight for a title once again and at that point we can see if he is worthy of being a UFC champion.