Chad Mendes has not fought since December of 2015, when he was knocked out in a featherweight contender bout with Frankie Edgar. Now, as he’s poised to return to action after an unfortunate USADA suspension, he’s hoping to run it back with Edgar.

“I honestly would like to get that Frankie fight back,” Mendes said of his imminent comeback on a recent edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting). “Frankie is obviously a top-level guy and he’s a guy that I know I can beat. That fight would be great. I honestly feel like any of the guys I match up with in the top ten, I match up great.”

Mendes also addressed the fact that two of his Team Alpha Male stablemates — Darren Elkins and Josh Emmett — currently reside in the divisional top-10. Apparently, they’ve talked, and are willing to fight each other if the belt is on the line.

“It sucks now that Team Alpha Male is kind of taking over the featherweight division,” Mendes said. “I think we have four or five guys in top 15. We’ve already sat and talked. I told these guys, I love you all and I don’t want to fight you unless it’s for a title, but if it’s for a belt, we’re gonna scrap. I think everyone is on the same page as far as that goes. We’re not going to fight unless it’s for a belt. That’s kind of where we’re at at this point.”

Prior to his loss to Edgar, Mendes was knocked out in a short-notice interim title showdown with Conor McGregor. This loss to McGregor was preceded by a quick TKO defeat of Ricardo Lamas, and a close decision loss to then-champion Jose Aldo in an absolute classic.

Who do you want to see Chad Mendes fight in his return to the cage?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/7/2018.