Bloody Elbow recaps the big fights from UFC Fight Night Fairfax yesterday in Virginia. Here, we look at the main event between Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas
On Saturday afternoon, Chad Mendes pulled off one of his most impressive performances to date to become the first man to knock out Ricardo Lamas in the UFC. Coming into this fight, Mendes looked to rebound from a close decision loss against Jose Aldo at UFC 179 in October.
With Chad Mendes' knockout and an exciting main card, fight fans were treated to an entertaining daytime card.
Official result: Chad Mendes def. Ricardo Lamas via TKO (punches) - round 1, 2:35
What was the high point of the fight?
This fight was short and Ricardo Lamas did look quite good in the early exchanges, but there can only be one highpoint in this fight and that of course is Chad Mendes' devastating punching power.
Where do these two go from here?
When you are 0-2 against the champion, it's never likely that you will get another title shot quickly. However, the fact that Mendes gave Aldo the fight of his career in their last fight, combined with his absolutely stunning performance against Lamas, he might well have earned himself another shot against Aldo. However, Aldo will need to overcome Conor McGregor for this to become reality.
I don't envy Ricardo Lamas right now. He looked great early, his movement was on point and he was throwing some decent leg kicks, but Chad Mendes is simply on the next level right now. I expect Lamas to face the loser of Aldo/McGregor or perhaps Frankie Edgar if Edgar suffers an unexpected loss against Urijah Faber.
Watch now, later, or never?
Watch this one right now. It's crazy to observe the evolution of Chad Mendes. It seems like yesterday that Mendes was being lambasted for his boring style, but now things have turned around and Mendes has become arguably the most exciting fighter in the division, and his fight with Lamas was a perfect demonstration of that.
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