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Bia Mesquita Survives Early Scare to Submit Melissa Mullins

The first-round armbar strengthens her case for a top-five bantamweight ranking by showing elite BJJ and the ability to recover under pressure.

Overview

  • Mesquita, which defeated Melissa Mullins on Saturday at UFC Vegas 119, preserved an 8-0 pro record by securing an armbar at 3:16 of Round 1 to extend her UFC run of submission wins to three.
  • Mesquita was visibly rocked by a left hook and briefly dazed before clinching, moving to the ground and locking a fight-ending armbar from the bottom.
  • After the victory Mesquita publicly called out No. 5 Ailin Perez and said she aims to reach the top five in the division, a move likely to affect official rankings when they are updated next week.
  • The prelims also reshaped lower-card pecking order with Kevin Borjas upsetting Andre Lima despite missing weight and forfeiting 20% of his purse, and Levan Chokheli scoring a roughly 23-second TKO in his UFC debut.
  • Mesquita’s success underscores how elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu can fast-track grapplers in MMA by turning precarious moments into finishes and positioning rising fighters for faster matchmaking toward ranked opponents.