Chad Mendes ends retirement, signs multi-fight deal with BKFC

Chad Mendes has ended his retirement.

The former UFC title challenger retired after his loss to Alex Volkanovski at UFC 232 in December of 2018. Since then, Mendes has remained in the gym but there were no talks of a possible comeback. However, over the past couple of months, he has teased a return to the sport saying the itch is back.

Now, Mendes announced on the Joe Rogan Experience that he has signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

“I just signed a big contract – I’m coming back to fighting,” Mendes told Rogan (h/a MMAJunkie). “But I’m not coming back to MMA. … I’m coming back to boxing. I want to try something different. I think we’re going to throw some bare-knuckle in there, bro – just mix it up and get real crazy. This is something that’s kind of been in the works for probably a year now.”

BKFC later took to Twitter to confirm the news as they posted a video of Mendes training saying he is putting the 155lbs division on notice.

https://twitter.com/bareknucklefc/status/1422980942780669966

@ChadMendes WELCOME TO BKFC pic.twitter.com/gBIZ6e6Dp2

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) August 4, 2021

Mendes also revealed he will fight at 155lbs and is targeted to make his BKFC debut on Oct. 22 in Chandler, Arizona. The opponent is not known at this time, but it’s likely he will get a big name for his debut. It’s also another massive signing for BKFC who have recently signed the likes of Paige VanZant, Rachael Ostovich, and Hector Lombard among countless others.

Chad Mendes (18-5), as mentioned, has not fought since he suffered a TKO loss to Volkanovski at UFC 232. Prior to that, he earned a TKO win over Myles Jury to get back into the win column after back-to-back knockout losses to Frankie Edgar and Conor McGregor for the interim featherweight title. The Team Alpha Male product fought for the undisputed UFC featherweight title twice losing by KO to Aldo at UFC 142 in 2012 and then dropping a decision to Aldo again at UFC 179 in 2014.

Who do you want to see Chad Mendes fight in his BKFC debut?