UFC featherweight fighter Chad Mendes will face battery charges in California after an incident at a bar on July 29th.
The Hanford Sentinel is reporting that Mendes will face a battery card in Kings County and the battery charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fine of $2,000.
The Kings County Sheriff’s office claims that Mendes was involves in an altercation at a local bar and sucker punch a man in the face. The UFC fighter left the bar out the back door and police officers were unable to catch up with him.
Following the incident becoming public, a Mendes representative released a statement and denied any wrongdoing by Mendes.
“While Chad acknowledges that an incident occurred last Saturday in Hanford, he contends that the majority of the facts pertaining to him in the story are absolutely false,” the statement said. “Chad denies any wrongdoing and is very upset by the allegations contained in the story. He will fully cooperate with the Sheriff’s Department and looks forward to clearing his name.”
Mendes (12-1) is coming off a knockout victory over Cody McKenzie at UFC 148 last month and the UFC has not booked the fighter for his next fight. He is scheduled to be arraigned on this charge on September 19th and he will answer to the charge at that time.