Chad Mendes BKFC debut: When is 'Money' fighting his first bare-knuckle boxing match? 

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Former UFC featherweight Chad Mendes [center]

Chad Mendes is making his bare-knuckle boxing debut at BKFC on Saturday.

All fighters have already hit the scale for BKFC's KnuckleMania 2 event, which is set to go down this weekend. Among the most notable names on the main card is Mendes, the former UFC featherweight title challenger.

After joining BKFC in August, 'Money' is finally making his much-awaited combat sports return on Saturday against Joshuah 'Famez' Alvarez. KnuckleMania 2 is set to take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The main card will air live on the BKTV App at 8 p.m. ET and the prelims at 6:30 p.m.

Apart from Mendes vs. Famez, the main card will also be headlined by Mike Perry vs. Julian Lane and a lightweight title bout between Luis Palomino and Martin Brown. BKFC will also crown its first women's flyweight champion following the bout between Britain Beltran and Christine Ferea.

This will be Mendes' first professional fight since 2018. He retired from MMA following a devastating second-round TKO loss to the current UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. The 36-year-old finished his UFC spell with a 9-5 record, three of which were championship bouts in the 145 lbs division.

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Chad Mendes makes shocking revelation about his UFC contract and BKFC salary

Chad Mendes dropped a huge bomb earlier this week when he confessed that he is still contractually tied-up with the UFC. He admitted that he still has three more fights under his current deal with the promotion.

Fortunately, the UFC still allowed him to make the switch to BKFC. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Mendes said:

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“I still have three fights on my UFC contract, and what that pay is right now, not a chance. It’s just not worth it for me. If I ended up talking and we could renegotiate, possibly. But it would have to be really good money. [The UFC] were actually really cool about letting me come here [BKFC] and making money for my family. They could have said no, so the fact that they did say yes, that’s good on them. Thank you.”

What's even more interesting is that Mendes also revealed the figures for his first paycheck from BKFC. According to the California native, he is certain he's about to make more money for his upcoming fight than Francis Ngannou did following his win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. He added:

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“I’ll put it this way: I just saw what the UFC heavyweight champion of the world just got paid, and it’s gonna be more than that. It’s pretty crazy. I feel blessed for sure.”

Watch Chad Mendes' full interview below:

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