Bia Mesquita has a dream debut, punishes 'Russian Round' and finishes at UFC Rio

A better debut is impossible. After building a very successful career in Jiu-Jitsu, Bia Mesquita took her first steps towards finding success in the world's largest MMA organization by submitting... Irina Alekseeva with a rear-naked choke in the second round on the preliminary card of UFC Rio. With the result, the Brazilian remained undefeated with six wins and automatically sent a big message to the entire bantamweight division (up to 61,2 kg).

Bia Mesquita demonstrated jiu-jitsu of the highest level

Bia Mesquita won her UFC debut against Irina Alekseeva. Photo: Reproduction/X.

The two spent the first few seconds studying each other on their feet, but the course of the fight quickly changed after the Brazilian transitioned to the clinch, landed the takedown, and landed in the mount. With great patience, the black belt avoided risking submissions during the first round, prioritizing positional control, and came close to ending the fight by TKO. After controlling her opponent for over four minutes, she went to her corner without taking any hard blows throughout the round.

Bia repeated the feat in the second round, pinning Ronda Russa to the ground again, but this time, she was determined to finish the fight. After passing guard and moving to mount once more, she took advantage of her opponent's movement to control her back and lock in a tight rear-naked choke, forcing Irina to tap out after two minutes and 14 seconds.

Bia Mesquita in victory at UFC Rio. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.

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In the interview inside the octagon, the Lady GOAT highlighted that she had not suffered any injuries and made herself available to Dana White to return to the Ultimate as soon as possible.

"This is Brazil! Thanks, RJ. It's all ours! I train with the best team in the world. I'm sure I'm more than ready. It couldn't be better here. I'm surrounded by friends and fans in this wonderful arena. I've shown I'm ready; I'm here to stay and be one of the best in the category. I'm here and I'm ready to set the playground on fire," said Mesquita.