Bia Mesquita wins UFC debut by Submission, Receives $50k FOTN Bonus

John Davis

Beatriz ‘Bia’ Mesquita submitted Irina Alekseeva with a rear-naked choke in the second round of her UFC debut at UFC Rio on Saturday night.

Mesquita is a 24-time BJJ world champion. She won the LFA women’s bantamweight title in June.

In the first round, both competitors measured distance for the first minute. Alekseeva used her jab to maintain distance. Mesquita closed the gap and secured a clinch position.

Mesquita executed an outside trip and established mount. She landed ground-and-pound from the mounted position. Mesquita trapped Alekseeva’s wrist in a gift-wrap position and delivered elbows that opened cuts. Alekseeva freed her arm but continued to absorb elbows until the round ended.

In round two, Mesquita shot for a single-leg takedown. She transitioned to mount and then took Alekseeva’s back. Mesquita locked up a rear-naked choke at 2:14 of the second round. Alekseeva tapped.

The victory improved Mesquita’s MMA record to 6-0. She began competing in MMA in 2024 after competing in jiu-jitsu for nearly a decade.

Following her UFC debut in Rio de Janeiro, Bia Mesquita was asked about the possibility of facing Ronda Rousey.

“I’m a very big fan of Ronda, true Ronda Rousey. She made history in MMA, and she opened a lot of doors for all the coming out, um, as well as me. So I really hope she come back. Um, everybody enjoys her fighting a lot, and I think that would be amazing — the armbar battle, even knowing that I didn’t get any arm bars yet. But who knows, maybe fighting her, it’s going to come.”

Rousey is a former UFC bantamweight champion.

John Davis