UFC owner Dana White is absolutely pumped after he and number one featherweight contender Chad Mendes agreed to a new deal that will keep him with the company for his next eight fights.
No. 1-ranked featherweight Chad Mendes will be competing in the UFC for quite some time after signing a new eight-fight deal with the promotion Monday.
Mendes was coming up on the end of his current deal with the UFC before entering into negotiations to re-up with the company.
It appears the UFC is committed to Mendes for the long run after inking a new deal that will run for eight fights starting with his next bout in the Octagon.
UFC president Dana White first announced the news on Twitter on Monday.
Mendes is fresh off a first-round drubbing of former title contender Ricardo Lamas in April after pushing featherweight champion Jose Aldo to the limit in their last fight in October 2014.
Mendes is rated as the top contender at 145 pounds as he awaits the outcome of UFC 189 to hopefully book his next fight.
Featherweight champion Jose Aldo fights Conor McGregor in the main event on July 11, and Mendes along with Frankie Edgar, who just won over the weekend, stand as the most viable contenders for a potential title shot.
Keeping Mendes around long term is feather in the cap for Dana White as Mendes is surely next in line for a title shot once Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor square off in July.
No matter who wins the big fight in July, I can’t wait to see the winner of that fight get in the cage with Frankie Edgar.