Watch: Chad Mendes shares clips of his 'hard' sparring sessions with UFC prospect Song Yadong
Chad Mendes has shared clips of his hard sparring sessions with UFC bantamweight prospect Song Yadong. Having signed with BKFC (Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship), Mendes has lately been working incredibly hard on his boxing skills.
‘Money’ last competed in an MMA bout back in December 2018 when he faced Alexander Volkanovski inside the UFC’s famed octagon. Mendes was beaten by the Australian via second-round TKO in their featherweight bout at UFC 232 in December 2018. Following this, the UFC featherweight mainstay took a hiatus from professional combat sports competition.
He eventually parted ways with the UFC and signed with bare-knuckle boxing promotion BKFC. Mendes’ BKFC debut witnessed him face Joshuah Alvarez aka ‘Famez’ in a lightweight bout at BKFC: KnuckleMania 2 on February 19th, 2022. In an impressive display of his pugilistic skills, Mendes emerged victorious via fourth-round TKO.
On that note, Chad Mendes has now provided fans with a look into his grueling sparing sessions alongside one of his training partners, Song Yadong. ‘Money’ took to Instagram to post a couple of video clips featuring himself and Yadong going all out in boxing sparring rounds against one another. Mendes attached a statement to his Instagram post that read as follows:
“Congrats to this absolute BEAST on his last big win in the @ufc. This was one of the many hard boxing rounds with my boy @yadongsong throughout my last training camp! Your a savage beast bro! Can’t wait to see what’s next for ya! @joey_rodriguez916 @capitalstrengthperformance @teamalphamalemma #hardworkpaysoffs #boxing #brawl #sendit #nonstop #highpace #yadongsong #ufc”
Watch the Instagram clip below:
Brendan Schaub draws parallels between Chad Mendes and Mike Tyson
The 24-year-old Song Yadong is on a three-fight win streak. Yadong last faced Marlon Moraes, whom he beat via first-round KO at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev earlier this month. Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Chad Mendes is focused on ascending to the top of the food chain in the sport of bare-knuckle boxing.
Thus far, Mendes has impressed the vast majority of the combat sports world with his transition from MMA to bare-knuckle boxing. This includes former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, who was all praise for 'Money' and compared him to boxing legend Mike Tyson.
In an edition of The Schaub Show last month, ‘Big Brown’ stated:
"Chad Mendes is just a little ball of muscle. He's the Mike Tyson of that [division] like he has the short black shorts... He looks like f***ng Mike Tyson in there. Look at his arm, dude. He's a Mini-Me Mike Tyson. Poor 'Famez' [Joshuah Alvarez] dude. What a terrible way to do this."
Watch the full clip below