Beatriz Mesquita (or simply Bia Mesquita) made her debut at Saturday’s UFC Rio, where the 24-time BJJ world champ faced off against “Russian Ronda” irina Alekseeva.
Mesquita, for nearly a decade, had won nothing but gold in the jiu-jitsu world; in 2024 she jumped to MMA and worked her way to becoming the LFA women’s bantamweight champ this past June.
Round one began with a feeling-out process during the first minute. Alekseeva worked behind her jab, trying to control the range, until Mesquita closed the distance and punched her way into the clinch. From there, Mesquita secured an outside trip and landed directly in mount. It was a bad spot for Alekseeva, who couldn’t escape from underneath as Mesquita stayed busy landing damage. Mesquita then trapped a wrist across Alekseeva’s face in a gift-wrap position and delivered some nasty elbows that opened her up. Alekseeva eventually freed her arm but ate several more heavy elbows before the bell likely saved her from a stoppage.
Round two started similarly slow for the first minute, until Mesquita shot in on a single leg and chained it into a clean takedown. She quickly transitioned to mount, took the back, and locked up the rear-naked for the finish in her UFC debut. An impressive start, as she moves to 6-0 overall.
Official Result: Bia Mesquita def. Irina Alekseeva by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 2:14
