The Hanford Sentinel reports that UFC Featherweight Chad Mendes is wanted by authorities after a 40 person brawl at a bar last Saturday The details do not paint Mendes in a good light.
Via Hanford Sentinel:
Mendes, 27, allegedly sucker punched a patron in the face and took off running out the back door. Officials say they have not been able to locate him.
He (Mendes) appeared to be intoxicated and began cursing at the deputies and officers, authorities said. They asked him to leave. Instead, he went back inside and struck one man who “never even saw him coming,” Assistant Sheriff Dave Putnam said
Allegedly, Mendes was a part of a 40 person brawl. Authorities are seeking Mendes for questioning. There is no word on the condition of the person Mendes allegedly punched.
Payout Perspective:
The UFC (and Hanford law enforcement) will need to sit down with Mendes to determine his side of the story. The news is bad publicity for Mendes and the UFC. Not only did Mendes put himself in a poor situation, the incident may open Mendes up to personal liability in addition to potential criminal charges. Mendes is a promising contender in the Featherweight division, but with this news, we will see what the UFC will do with him.
Despite fighters being independent contractors, there is a code of conduct each fighter agrees to follow.
Section 9.1 of the Zuffa (or Forza, LLC for Strikeforce fighters) contract states:
“Fighter shall conduct himself in accordance with commonly accepted standards of decency, social conventions and morals, and Fighter will not commit any act or become involved in any situation or occurrence or make any statement which will reflect negatively upon or bring disrepute, contempt, scandal, ridicule, or disdain to Fighter, the Identity of Fighter or any of Fighter’s Affiliates, FORZA or any of its officers, managers, members, employees, or agents.
“Fighter’s conduct shall not be such as to shock, insult or offend the public or any organized group therein, or reflect unfavorably upon any current or proposed sponsor or such sponsor’s advertising agency, or any network or station over which a Bout is to be broadcast.”
I dont think there is any reason expect any damages. He is a 145 lbs and not even a good striker by 145 standards. OF course he tooks off running. Paper weights dont bar fight unless they scout out another paper weight. Bars dont have weight class’ and a 140 lber would have a short life expectancy. I remember seeing Miguel Torres once and he was so thin and frail i believe i could literally pull his arms off his body.
It was very stupid for Mendes to even be in this situation. People look up to fighters as larger than like tough guys. Lots of gullible people think even a small guy would tear up a big guy. So the general public wont think to highly of him running away like a bitch. It will look bad on MMA as a whole and his size wont factor into it. It should just reflect on him and his own caward stupidity but it wont.
BrainSmasher – I take it you are some 6’+ out of shape douche who thinks he could take a pro fighter. Yeah. You go ahead and try that shit and I will laugh at you when they post you shitting your pants after ‘stick arms’ chokes you the fuck out.
With regards to code of conduct…pretty sure Jon Jones, Rampage, and several others already broke the FUCK outta that rule.
He cuts to 145 Jackass. That guy probably weighs 180 walking around and that’s 180 lbs of solid muscle compared to most 180 lb dudes.
Getting sued for damages is not necessarily correlated to the damage inflicted by the punch. If you assault someone they can sue you even if all you gave them was some superficial bruises. Once the guy he sucker punched finds out Mendes is an UFC fighter with a contract, I’m guessing he’ll call a lawyer. Very stupid move.
Running away was probably the only smart thing he did. But he should have done it before he sucker punched a dude.
GTFO
You’re right that Mendes isn’t the first fighter to violate the code of conduct, but this is something Zuffa is pushing much more stringently in the post-Fox deal era. Especially since they have been struggling to line up sponsors. It’s hart to think of a better example for Dana & Co. to throw the book at. So so stupid.
GTFO & GL
Also, BS thinks he could take Nick Diaz, so that shows you where he is in respect to reality.