Mendes a Big Favourite To Beat Ricardo Lamas on Saturday Afternoon

Published on April 1st, 2015 8:31 pm EST
A special afternoon edition of "UFC Fight Night" will be taking place this Saturday. UFC Fight Night 63: Mendes vs Lamas will feature an intriguing Featherweight bout between Chad "Money" Mendes and Ricardo Lamas.

Chad Mendes is coming off of a thrilling five round loss to Jose Aldo in 2014. The first time that Mendes and Aldo met, the champion floored Mendes with a knee shortly before the end of the first round and then famously ran into the Brazilian crowd. The second fight, however, went quite a bit differently, as Mendes gave the champion everything that he could handle. Aldo was able to retain the title via decision, though Mendes won over many fans with his gutsy performance.

Ricardo Lamas, who also lost a title fight against Aldo via decision, is in the midst of a two fight winning streak that includes wins over Dennis Bermudez and Hacran Dias. Lamas has won six of his last seven fights.

It's safe to say that the winner of Mendes/Lamas will be in consideration for the next shot at the Featherweight title. Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will be fighting for the title in July, and an impressive victory by either Mendes or Lamas might vault them over Frankie Edgar in the Featherweight rankings. We'll have to see, and there is plenty that can change over the next couple of months.

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Chad Mendes is the clear favourite to win on Saturday night - let's take a look at the odds:

Chad Mendes, -440
Ricardo Lamas, +350

According to these odds, a successful $440 wager on Mendes would yield a total profit of $100, while a successful $100 bet on Lamas would return a total profit of $350.

Mendes is seen as having a massive advantage in this fight - wrestling. Will Lamas be able to stay off his back or will the grinding style of "Money" Mendes be just too much?

This is an intriguing Featherweight tilt with real title implications - it should be a great fight.