UFC 189 Chad Mendes vs Conor McGregor: Predictions & What to Expect

Can Chad Mendes fill in the shoes of an injured Jose Aldo for UFC 189 this coming weekend (July 11, 2015) against Connor McGregor in Las Vegas?

Mendes became a last-minute replacement to take over from Jose Aldo who was forced to withdraw from the much on account of a rib injury. Aldo suffered the injury in training and while the UFC featherweight champion tried to recover in time to face his nemesis but unfortunately such wasn’t meant to be.

With a much-hyped main event shelved (for now) stepping up is a two-time title contender in Mendes.

Mendes last fought in April, winning via TKO over Ricardo Llamas. He currently totes a 17-2 card where one of his losses was ironically dealt by Aldo.

Given the sudden change of plans as well as the opportunity to vie for the interim featherweight title, is Mendes ready for McGregor?

“I got the call, it was three weeks out. You know, at that point it’s just fine-tuning that weight down,” said Mendes, whom the UFC secured as a backup when Aldo was injured June 23, said on a conference call last week. “For me, when you get a call like that, you jump all over it — and I’ll be ready.”

In Mendes, McGregor faces an expert wrestler who he intends to pressure. But will a two-week preparation be enough to allow Mendes the needed backing against a well-prepared McGregor?

It appears that Mendes doesn’t seem to mind the lack of training time, something that would usually take 6 to 8 weeks. In fact, he intends to approach the upcoming match in the same way he does with all his matches – with a lot of fervor and fire which could become a problem for the confident McGregor.

McGregor enters a fight brimming with confidence, going as far as saying that the match will be over inside four minutes of the first round.

It seems that the change in opponent will not force McGregor into rethinking his game plan, something that could be costly considering that Mendes and Aldo are two different fighters. And such could be a big mistake especially with Mendes equally confident of using his wrestling expertise to good use.

"I see myself beating this guy three ways," Mendes explained. "I'm either going to knock him unconscious because he drops his hands a ton and gets lazy in there. I'm going to take him down and submit him because he gives up. Or I'm going to have him on his back crying for his mama for five five-minute rounds, beating the crap out of him. I'm good with all three of them."

With the last-minute call-up, it does seem that McGregor does hold the advantage over a questionably prepared Mendes. Though Mendes claims he had prepared for such in case Aldo would be unable to compete due to injury, the mental game heading into Saturday could be totally different.

It could work to the advantage of either fighter despite all the trash-talk on who has the upper and. If it boils down to tactic, Mendes may have a chance.

However, if the conditioning game sets in, McGregor could come out on top paired with his planned strikes provided he doesn’t fall prey to Mendes’ grappling maneuvers.

This is of course not to say that Mendes is not prepared physically. But the mindset and level of preparation is certainly different when you talk about a scheduled match where one is prepared and the other is asked to fill in.

Connor McGregor and Chad Mendes get it on this coming Saturday in UFC 189 in Las Vegas starting at 10 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT