It is as if he never left! Chad Mendes beats Joshua Alvarez on his debut in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). He won the fight via TKO with 25 seconds to go in the 4th round.
Money Mendes looked crisp from the get-go. He had good feet movement and Chad’s speed gave Alvarez a lot of trouble throughout the fight. Chad never looked to be in any trouble and dominated ‘Famez’ throughout the course of the fight.
The former two-time UFC title challenger made a return to fighting after an absence of 4 years. He retired from MMA after losing to the current 145 lbs champion Alexander Volkanovski. But he showed no signs of ring rust upon his return. The 36-year old dropped his opponent multiple times and finally finished the fight in the penultimate round.
Chad Mendes reacts to his win on the debut in BKFC
After the contest, Chad Mendes spoke to Helen Yee about the fight. In that interview, he discussed the experience of being a bare Knuckle fighter, a possible return to the UFC and what his future, in general, may look like.
“It was (a) fun (experience). It was a long journey to get here tonight. I think we trained almost a year for this one fight. Things just kept getting pushed back. I didn’t wanna step away and not be prepared just in case something came up last minute. So we kept training and all that hard work paid off tonight. So it’s awesome to see. It feels good.”
Talking about the experience of fighting bare Knuckle, Chad said it was brutal and the punches felt a bit harder and sharper than with the UFC gloves. Will he return in the UFC? Mendes did not rule it out as he wants to discuss every possibility with his family and make an informed decision afterwards.
‘Platinum’ Mike Perry wins his #BKFC debut via Unanimous Decision ???????????? pic.twitter.com/XuRM0eKCrr
— FightClub (@atfightclub) February 20, 2022
In another notable fight, former UFC welterweight Mike Perry defeated Julian Lane in the co-main event of KnuckleMania 2. The 30-year old Perry edged out his opponent in an all-out brawl. He won via unanimous decision.