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Beatriz Mesquita’s otherworldly ground skills were there when she needed them most.
The undefeated American Top Team star remained unbeaten and continued her climb in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division, as she disposed of Melissa Mullins with an armbar in the first round of a featured UFC Fight Night 279 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Mesquita (8-0, 3-0 UFC) drew the curtain 3:16 into Round 1.
Mullins (7-3, 2-3 UFC) nearly sprang the upset. She dazed Mesquita with a left hook, then closed in on the 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with follow-up punches. Putting the icing on the cake proved problematic. The resourceful Mesquita lured her opponent into her venomous guard, cleared the cobwebs and snatched the armbar. Mullins fought briefly to free herself but had no choice but to tap.
Meanwhile, ex-Inka Fighting Championship titleholder Kevin Borjas outstruck the heavily favored and previously unbeaten Andre Lima to a unanimous decision in their three-round flyweight affair. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28—all for Borjas (11-5, 2-4 UFC), who missed weight for the match by three pounds and forfeited 20% of his purse.
Lima (11-1, 4-1 UFC) landed his share of kicks to the body and head but too often limited himself to single strikes. Borjas cut loose in three-, four- and five-punch bursts, staggered the Brazilian with a right hook in the waning seconds of the first round and circled away from danger. He also survived a second-round low blow that resulted in a five-minute pause to the action. Lima sent the Peruvian’s mouthpiece flying with a stiff jab in Round 3 but never established much of a rhythm and fell short of the mark as a result.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Borjas.
Further down the undercard, a fast start and airtight takedown defense carried onetime CES MMA champion Mitch Raposo to a split decision over Allan Nascimento in their three-round flyweight clash. All three judges scored it 29-28: Eric Colon and Junichiro Kamijo for Raposo, Sal D’Amato for Nascimento.
Effective movement, sharp jabs and occasional multi-punch bursts tipped the spear for Raposo (11-3, 2-2 UFC). He forced Nascimento to give chase for much of the first two rounds and walked him into sneaky right uppercuts more than once, all while opening a cut under the Diego Lima-trained Chute Boxe export’s right eye. Raposo did not escape unscathed. Nascimento (22-7, 4-2 UFC) decked the Tyson Chartier disciple with a clean one-two in Round 3, assumed top position and made moves with his ground-and-pound. However, Raposo weathered the assault, bled the remaining time off the clock and let the judges do their work.
The setback was Nascimento’s first since Oct. 30, 2021.
Elsewhere, Bellator MMA veteran Gaston Bolanos rode an active kicking game and unflappable resilience to a unanimous decision over ex-Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Michael Aswell in their three-round featherweight confrontation. All three judges turned in 29-28 scorecards for Bolanos (9-5, 3-2 UFC), who rebounded from a submission loss to Quang Le a little more than a year ago.
Aswell (11-5, 1-3 UFC) was the aggressor from the start but left himself exposed to counters and struggled to pace himself properly. Bolanos connected with the more consequential blows across the first 10 minutes, though both men suffered cuts near their right eyes. The Combat Sports Academy standout then withstood a late rally from Aswell, who turned up the heat in the third round, fired punches in combination and pressured his Peruvian counterpart onto his back foot. Even so, Bolanos steadied himself under duress and settled for the decision.
The 25-year-old Aswell has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time as a pro.
Finally, Kaizen MMA product Levan Chokheli put away Leon Shahbazyan with punches in the first round of their welterweight encounter. Shahbazyan (12-5, 0-1 UFC) entered the cage on a four-fight winning streak and made his unceremonious exit just 23 seconds into Round .
Chokheli (15-3, 1-0 UFC) was flawless in his promotional debut. The 29-year-old Georgian blasted Shahbazyan’s lead leg with vicious kicks, pinned him to the fence and unleashed his hands. Chokheli eventually folded the Freestyle MMA rep with a left hook to the body, at which point referee Kerry Hadley decided he had seen enough.
It was the eighth sub-minute finish of Chokheli’s career.
In other action, Luana Santos (11-2, 6-1 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous decision—30-27, 30-27, 30-27—over Karol Rosa (19-8, 8-5 UFC) in their three-round women’s bantamweight tilt; and Shane Collins (8-0, 1-0 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Otari Tanzilovi (10-2, 0-1 UFC) in their three-round featherweight scrap, as the former A1 Combat champion swept the scorecards with matching 30-27 marks from the judges.
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The undefeated American Top Team star remained unbeaten and continued her climb in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division, as she disposed of Melissa Mullins with an armbar in the first round of a featured UFC Fight Night 279 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Mesquita (8-0, 3-0 UFC) drew the curtain 3:16 into Round 1.
Mullins (7-3, 2-3 UFC) nearly sprang the upset. She dazed Mesquita with a left hook, then closed in on the 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with follow-up punches. Putting the icing on the cake proved problematic. The resourceful Mesquita lured her opponent into her venomous guard, cleared the cobwebs and snatched the armbar. Mullins fought briefly to free herself but had no choice but to tap.
Meanwhile, ex-Inka Fighting Championship titleholder Kevin Borjas outstruck the heavily favored and previously unbeaten Andre Lima to a unanimous decision in their three-round flyweight affair. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28—all for Borjas (11-5, 2-4 UFC), who missed weight for the match by three pounds and forfeited 20% of his purse.
Related » UFC Vegas 119 round-by-round scoring
Lima (11-1, 4-1 UFC) landed his share of kicks to the body and head but too often limited himself to single strikes. Borjas cut loose in three-, four- and five-punch bursts, staggered the Brazilian with a right hook in the waning seconds of the first round and circled away from danger. He also survived a second-round low blow that resulted in a five-minute pause to the action. Lima sent the Peruvian’s mouthpiece flying with a stiff jab in Round 3 but never established much of a rhythm and fell short of the mark as a result.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Borjas.
Further down the undercard, a fast start and airtight takedown defense carried onetime CES MMA champion Mitch Raposo to a split decision over Allan Nascimento in their three-round flyweight clash. All three judges scored it 29-28: Eric Colon and Junichiro Kamijo for Raposo, Sal D’Amato for Nascimento.
Effective movement, sharp jabs and occasional multi-punch bursts tipped the spear for Raposo (11-3, 2-2 UFC). He forced Nascimento to give chase for much of the first two rounds and walked him into sneaky right uppercuts more than once, all while opening a cut under the Diego Lima-trained Chute Boxe export’s right eye. Raposo did not escape unscathed. Nascimento (22-7, 4-2 UFC) decked the Tyson Chartier disciple with a clean one-two in Round 3, assumed top position and made moves with his ground-and-pound. However, Raposo weathered the assault, bled the remaining time off the clock and let the judges do their work.
The setback was Nascimento’s first since Oct. 30, 2021.
Elsewhere, Bellator MMA veteran Gaston Bolanos rode an active kicking game and unflappable resilience to a unanimous decision over ex-Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Michael Aswell in their three-round featherweight confrontation. All three judges turned in 29-28 scorecards for Bolanos (9-5, 3-2 UFC), who rebounded from a submission loss to Quang Le a little more than a year ago.
Aswell (11-5, 1-3 UFC) was the aggressor from the start but left himself exposed to counters and struggled to pace himself properly. Bolanos connected with the more consequential blows across the first 10 minutes, though both men suffered cuts near their right eyes. The Combat Sports Academy standout then withstood a late rally from Aswell, who turned up the heat in the third round, fired punches in combination and pressured his Peruvian counterpart onto his back foot. Even so, Bolanos steadied himself under duress and settled for the decision.
The 25-year-old Aswell has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time as a pro.
Finally, Kaizen MMA product Levan Chokheli put away Leon Shahbazyan with punches in the first round of their welterweight encounter. Shahbazyan (12-5, 0-1 UFC) entered the cage on a four-fight winning streak and made his unceremonious exit just 23 seconds into Round .
Chokheli (15-3, 1-0 UFC) was flawless in his promotional debut. The 29-year-old Georgian blasted Shahbazyan’s lead leg with vicious kicks, pinned him to the fence and unleashed his hands. Chokheli eventually folded the Freestyle MMA rep with a left hook to the body, at which point referee Kerry Hadley decided he had seen enough.
It was the eighth sub-minute finish of Chokheli’s career.
In other action, Luana Santos (11-2, 6-1 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous decision—30-27, 30-27, 30-27—over Karol Rosa (19-8, 8-5 UFC) in their three-round women’s bantamweight tilt; and Shane Collins (8-0, 1-0 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Otari Tanzilovi (10-2, 0-1 UFC) in their three-round featherweight scrap, as the former A1 Combat champion swept the scorecards with matching 30-27 marks from the judges.
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