“I started wrestling when I was five years old, and from the time that I actually had the knowledge of what college wrestling was and what a national championship meant, it was a goal I set for myself. It's something I worked for my whole life. To get there finally and to come up just short, it's pretty hard to take.”

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.