“I started swimming before I got into wrestling at, like, 4 years old, then I wrestled from, like, 5 years old through college, graduated, and then the next day I headed to Sacramento to begin professional training.”

American professional bare-knuckle boxer, former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler

Chad Mendes is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer, former mixed martial artist, and collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his time in the UFC featherweight division, where he challenged for the championship three times, and for his earlier run in World Extreme Cagefighting. He is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Before moving into bare-knuckle boxing, he built his reputation in mixed martial arts through wrestling-based fighting and high-level competition at featherweight, where his name became widely associated with title contention.