Rani Yahya is not being given much of a chance by anyone in his fight v Chad Mendes, mostly after getting dominated by alpha male team mate Joseph Benavidez.
Is Mendes a bigger, stronger, better, version of Joseph Benavidez??
The undefeated 10-0, Chad Mendes, who is a two time All-American and a NCAA championship finalist is getting a lot of praise for his wrestling/grappling skills. Now after beating Omigawa and Vasquez, people are saying Mendes has a great stand-up also.
Is this fight with Yahya is a set-up for Chad "Will fight for food" Mendes to get an easy TKO and gain even more credibility in the UFC?
Rani is a very good grappler. How is this is not a dangerous fight for Chad Mendes?
Mendes has better wrestling and more power than Benevidez, but Benevidez is probably quicker and more experienced. Mendes stand-up isnt "great" but it is impressive seeing as he is still very raw and inexperienced. His improvement from fight to fight is clear, he was tagging Omigawa in stand-up and on the ground. He defintely has potential to TKO Yahya and could be a good bet as the odds will clearly favour Mendes by decision
yahya didn't get dominated by benavidez, he got caught with a big punch...
the reality is, mendes has way better boxing than yahya, and can probably KO him standing. with that said, yahya's wrestling looked fantastic against brown, and it's within the realm of possibilities that he drags mendes down.
I agree with vaughny that there will probably be value on the mendes inside distance line.
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What is so impressive about Chad Mendes
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