World-renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, Bia Mesquita, made things looks easy in her official Octagon debut earlier tonight (Sat., Oct. 11, 2025) at UFC Rio LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, slicing through women’s bantamweight fighter Irina Alekseeva with a second-round submission (rear-naked choke).
Mesquita is one of the most accomplished women’s BJJ experts to come over to MMA in quite some time. She entered UFC Rio as one of the biggest betting favorites on the card,
but fight fans still weren’t sold until they witnessed Mesquita’s dominance first hand. That’s because most BJJ prodigies that transition to MMA have trouble grabbing takedowns and actually getting the action to the canvas to implement their grappling.
Fortunately for Mesquita, she has wrestling, too!
This was on full display early into the first round as she scored a technical takedown and quickly moved into full mount. Alekseeva did well to fend off a fight-ending sequence, but she ate countless elbows to the face that bloodied her up pretty good. The fight was probably about 10 seconds away from being stopped, but Alekseeva made the bell.
Mesquita left nothing to the imagination in Round 2, though, once again scoring a nice takedown and gaining top control. This time around, Mesquita was able to transition to the back and lock up a tight rear-naked choke. Alekseeva tried to defend, but it was like trying to pry off an anaconda. Mesquita would not be denied and walked away with the flashy submission win.
Check out the video highlights below:
LIVE! Stream UFC Rio On ESPN+
Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!
Where to Buy:
For complete UFC Rio results, coverage, and highlights click HERE!
