Much has been made of the pre-fight conditions of Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes heading into their bout at UFC 189 in July.
McGregor entered the bout with a knee injury he claims was an 80 percent tear of his ACL, while Mendes, stepping up on short notice, was attempting to fight through a broken foot and thumb.
Mendes, who used his stout wrestling a heavy top-control to dominate much of the opening nine minutes, faded in the waning moments of the second stanza, falling victim to a spectacular McGregor TKO with a mere three seconds remaining in the round.
"Honestly, I'm tired of talking about all this pre-injury sh-t with Conor," Mendes told MMAjunkie.com's Mike Bohn. “Bottom line is I lost to Conor. I was feeling great in the fight, doing what I needed to do, he caught me with a big punch. That's a fight I feel like if I prepared completely for, I win that fight."
Mendes has failed to capture the 145-pound strap on three occasions, but could find himself right back in the thick of things at featherweight should he topple former lightweight kingpin Frankie Edgar at the TUF 22 Finale on Dec. 11.
"I was definitely 100 percent going into this camp with Frankie," Mendes said. "I was in a cast for my thumb, I got all that cleared out, got it off. My foot is 100 percent now and I haven’t had any issues through camp with it. Everything is good."
