Over the last two decades, motivations for modified gravity have emerged from both theoretical and observational levels.f(R) and Chern-Simons gravity have received more attention as they are the simplest generalization. However,f(R) and Chern-Simons gravity contain only an additional scalar (spin-0) degree of freedom and, as a result, do not include other modes of modified theories of gravity. In contrast, quadratic gravity (also referred to as Stelle gravity) is the most general second-order modification to 4-D general relativity and contains a massive spin-2 mode that is not present inf(R) and Chern-Simons gravity. Using two different physical settings—the gravitational wave energy-flux measured by the detectors and the backreaction of the emitted gravitational radiation on the spacetime of the remnant black hole—we demonstrate thatmassive spin-2 mode carries more energy than the spin-0 mode. Our analysis shows that the effects are pronounced for intermediate-mass black holes, which are prime targets for LISA.