Top UFC featherweight title contender Chad Mendes continues to wage a war of words with current champion Jose Aldo as he awaits his second crack at championship gold.
During an appearance on Monday's edition of Sherdog Radio Network's "Beatdown" show, "Money" flat out called Aldo a user of performance-enhancing drugs, questioning the timing of his recent injury.
“I feel like this happens to me a lot, like I have a curse or something. It sucks,” Mendes said about UFC 176 being cancelled. “I definitely do [think Aldo’s using PEDs]. This is something that's been ongoing, but for him to all of a sudden just drop out -- I mean he drops out of a lot of fights -- but I think it’s pretty coincidental.”
UFC 176 was called off after "Scarface" withdrew from the main event, a rematch with Mendes, due to a shoulder/neck injury.
Mendes, who has scored five straight victories (four of which came via knockout), was less than thrilled about the turn of events and almost immediately accused Aldo of ducking him, per MMA Fighting.
That's when this feud took a tun for the worse, at least as far as verbal warfare goes.
In an interview with Brazilian media outlet Combate (translation per MMA Fighting), the Brazilian titleholder uncharacteristically lost his cool and called his American counterpart a "p****" who doesn't get hurt in training due to a unique choice of "supplements."
Mendes gushed about the champ's comments on the "Beatdown" show, stating that he's "in his head" since he lost his temper.
For the record, neither Aldo or Mendes have failed a drug test in a combined 42 professional fights.
Obviously, that hasn't prevented either competitor from slinging bold accusations as they await a rematch, which could potentially take place in October.
Aldo and Mendes first met at UFC 142, where the versatile Brazilian striker scored a Round 1 knockout when he landed a big knee to the jaw of Mendes.
Mendes' claims that Aldo is consistently injured aren't without merit: the Team Nova Uniao standout has fought three times since January 2012.
With all this back-and-forth trash talk, is Aldo vs. Mendes II quickly becoming one of the most anticipated rematches in recent memory?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
