Augusto Mendes still wants Garbrandt rematch – just knows now it will take longer

Facing Cody Garbrandt on five days’ notice with a significant amount of weight to cut isn’t exactly a UFC newcomer’s dream scenario.

But that’s what Augusto Mendes signed up for when he took John Lineker’s place at UFC Fight Night 83 this past February. Determined to make his octagon debut after pulling out of a previous engagement, he didn’t just accept the fight – he asked for it. And, though newly-crowned champ Garbrandt was still mostly a heavy-hitting promise back then, he knew exactly what he was getting himself into.

After all, “Tanquinho” (short for “tank” in Portuguese) didn’t become a jiu-jitsu world champion by avoiding tough situations.

“The only thing is I asked for it to be a catchweight bout,” Mendes told MMAjunkie, “because we were five days away and I was a little heavy. But they said that it had to be a bantamweight. I said I’d make it, I took on the responsibility, but it was really hard. I had to go to my limit, but I didn’t hesitate at all. On the contrary – I wanted to fight.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight, but I never ran from challenges. I always fought the best in the world in jiu-jitsu and I try to do the same at MMA. If I can test myself against good opponents, I will. Of course, I wanted a full camp, especially against a guy of his caliber, but God knows what he does. I was supposed to take the fight that way and learn from it so I could be better for the next one.”

Mendes was knocked out in the first round, ending his undefeated five-fight streak. Garbrandt went on to make quick work of Thomas Almeida and Takeya Mizugaki before putting on the display of a lifetime over Dominick Cruz to retain the UFC’s 135-pound belt. Mendes, in turn, suffered an knee injury that required surgery and kept him sidelined for the rest of the year.

Now set to face Frankie Saenz (11-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 103 in Phoenix on Jan. 15, Mendes (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was, like everyone else, impressed with Garbrandt’s title win. But he doesn’t feel in any way vindicated by having his sole octagon loss come by the hands of the guy who went on to be champ.

If anything, it just made him all the more distant from a rematch that he most definitely wants.

“No one is a champion by chance,” Mendes said. “He worked for that. After me, he won two fights quickly and fought very well at his title shot. It’s not that I’m happy or relieved that he won – on the contrary, I want to fight him again. To me, I’d be better if he lost to Dominick Cruz, so that I could have a chance to fight him sooner than I’d imagined.

“With him as champion, I’m going to have to make my way until I make it to the top. But I want to fight him again, with a full camp, and I believe I can put on a better fight.”

While his shot at Garbrandt seems distant, at least for now Mendes was finally able to get the full camp part. And though he would not take back the way he kicked off his UFC career, the 32-year-old sees a “total difference” walking into his second appointment.

“My confidence is way up there,” Mendes said. “I’m feeling well-trained, I’m doing my last week of camp, but I’m training very well. So all of this gives me a lot of confidence to go in there and have a good performance. My weight is great, so I’m not worried about anything, just going in there and fighting.

“Totally different than the last fight. I had five days, had to cut a lot of weight, a super tough opponent, so certainly the mental aspect is a lot better right now.”

Not that he doesn’t think Saenz is tough. In fact, Mendes thinks Saenz may just be tough enough that winning their FS1-televised preliminary-card bout, which takes place at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, could propel the Brazilian grappling ace into the UFC rankings sooner than expected.

“I believe a win over Frankie, depending on how it is, may put me in the rankings,” Mendes said. “From the way he’s been fighting, he’s had many UFC fights, the guys he fought and the way they happened, I believe if I can win convincingly and perhaps impressively, it might throw me in the rankings. ”

It’s hard to doubt Mendes’ tenacity considering what he accomplished before transitioning to MMA in 2014. If the name “Tanquinho” doesn’t say much to a lot of MMA fans yet, it’s a highly respected ones especially among the Brazilian jiu-jitsu community – where the world champion black belt is also a well-known referee.

Coming from being an established name in one career to start fresh at a new endeavor could be a discouraging process for some. But, for the MMA Lab fighter, is pretty much basic instinct.

“For me, I like challenges,” Mendes said. “My entire career in jiu-jitsu, I set goals for myself and I went after them. Thankfully, I was able to accomplish what I did. I got to a point where I wanted to test myself differently, I was training MMA with people here and I started getting a taste for it. I started setting new goals, something I didn’t have in jiu-jitsu anymore.

“I don’t have this ego, this wanting to show off to people. I fight for me, for my family, for those who support me, for my fans. So I make my goals and go after them regardless of whether they’ll make me more famous or less so. Whenever you start a new project, you start from the bottom and work your way up.

“So I don’t have this ego of wanting to show off. If I did, I’d have stayed in jiu-jitsu, where I was already world champion and it was a lot easier for me.”

His previous accomplishments, Mendes knows, will not make his ascension through the UFC’s bantamweight division any easier. That’s a climb that he’s going to have to make himself.

And he even has a former opponent to look up to.

“Now my intention is to climb step by step, showing what I can do,” Mendes said. “I don’t think about specific names or standings. I think about being there, and people seeing my potential so that I can climb slowly. Sort of like what Cody did. Who knows maybe one day I’ll get my shot.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 103, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.