Mesquita survives knockdown scare to armbar Mullins and stay unbeaten at UFC Vegas 119

Beatriz Mesquita kept her unbeaten record intact at UFC Fight Night 279 on Saturday, surviving a genuine knockdown scare before submitting Melissa Mullins with an armbar 3:16 into the first round at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The American Top Team product improves to 8-0 overall and 3-0 inside the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division.

Mullins came close to pulling off the upset. A sharp left hook dazed the 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, and Mullins swarmed with follow-up punches to press her advantage. The finish, however, eluded her. Mesquita drew her opponent into her guard, cleared her head and locked in the armbar. Mullins briefly fought to escape before tapping, falling to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in the UFC.

In the featured prelim’s other notable result, Kevin Borjas handed previously unbeaten Andre Lima his first UFC loss, taking a unanimous decision in their three-round flyweight bout by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice. The result snapped a two-fight losing streak for Borjas, who had missed weight by three pounds ahead of the contest and forfeited 20 percent of his purse. Lima, who entered at 11-1, too often relied on single strikes, while Borjas worked in multi-punch combinations and staggered the Brazilian with a right hook late in the first round. Borjas also survived a second-round low blow that halted the action for five minutes.

Mitch Raposo earned a split decision over Allan Nascimento in a three-round flyweight clash further down the card, with two of the three judges scoring it 29-28 in his favour. Raposo controlled the first two rounds with sharp jabs, effective movement and right uppercuts that opened a cut under Nascimento’s right eye. Nascimento dropped Raposo with a clean one-two in the third and worked from top position, but Raposo survived to let the scorecards decide. It was Nascimento’s first defeat since October 30, 2021.

Bellator MMA veteran Gaston Bolanos also picked up a unanimous decision victory on the undercard, relying on an active kicking game and resilience to see off his opponent across three rounds.