Bia Mesquita Dominates at UFC Vegas 114: BJJ Legend Goes 7-0 With Another First-Round Finish

The greatest female Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor of all time is proving that her grappling wizardry translates perfectly to the Octagon. Beatriz “Bia” Mesquita delivered a spectacular first-round rear-naked choke submission of Montserrat Rendon at UFC Vegas 114 on Saturday night, pushing her perfect MMA record to 7-0 and sending a clear message to the UFC bantamweight division: the Lady GOAT is here to stay.

UFC Fight Night 269, held at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on March 14, 2026, featured a stacked card with 14 bouts across the preliminary and main card. While the featherweight main event between Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos headlined the evening, it was Mesquita’s surgical destruction of Rendon that had the BJJ community buzzing all night long.

Mesquita’s Path From BJJ Mats to UFC Octagon

Before she ever threw a punch inside a cage, Bia Mesquita had already cemented herself as the most decorated female grappler in Brazilian jiu-jitsu history. With 10 IBJJF World Championship gold medals at black belt level — a Guinness World Record — and 24 major titles across the four biggest gi championships, Mesquita earned the nickname “Lady GOAT” long before her MMA debut.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1991, Mesquita started training BJJ at just five years old. By 10, she had won the Brazilian National Junior Championships. She earned her black belt under legendary instructor Leticia Ribeiro in 2011 and proceeded to dominate every major BJJ tournament on the planet for the next decade. Her resume includes multiple ADCC medals, Pan American titles, European championships, and a 2017 victory over UFC star Mackenzie Dern in just 64 seconds.

In 2023, Mesquita made the decision to transition to MMA, signing with First Round Management and relocating to American Top Team in Florida. She rattled off five straight wins — four by submission — in regional promotions before capturing the LFA Women’s Bantamweight Championship in June 2025. The UFC came calling shortly after, and Mesquita made her Octagon debut in Rio de Janeiro later that year with a first-round stoppage.

UFC Vegas 114: Surgical Destruction of Rendon

Saturday’s performance against Montserrat Rendon was textbook Mesquita — efficient, methodical, and utterly dominant. From the opening bell, the Brazilian showed how much her striking has improved since transitioning to MMA. She wobbled Rendon with a crisp right hand almost immediately, then swarmed forward with heavy punches that drove her opponent to the cage.

Once Rendon was compromised, Mesquita did what she does best. She forced the fight to the canvas, quickly advanced to full mount, and began systematically breaking her opponent down with elbows, hammerfists, and positional pressure. When Rendon turned to give up her back — the only escape available — Mesquita locked in a textbook rear-naked choke. The tap came at 2:07 of the first round.

“I’m 34, and I have no time to waste,” Mesquita has said about her MMA timeline. That urgency was on full display Saturday. She didn’t play it safe, didn’t feel out her opponent, and didn’t look for points. She went straight for the kill, and the result was never in doubt.

Breaking Down Mesquita’s Grappling Game for MMA

What separates Mesquita from other BJJ practitioners who have tried MMA is the completeness of her positional game. While many submission artists fixate on a single finishing sequence — hunting for armbars from guard or triangles from bottom position — Mesquita operates from every angle. Her back-take ability is arguably the best in women’s MMA history, and she has demonstrated an uncanny sense of timing when transitioning between positions under the chaos of cage fighting.

Her guard passing in MMA has been particularly effective. Against Rendon, she showed heavy pressure passing techniques that pinned her opponent flat against the canvas, eliminating scramble opportunities before they began. This style of grinding, suffocating top control is exactly what made her so dominant in IBJJF competition at the highest level, and it translates beautifully to the smaller UFC cage where fighters have nowhere to retreat.

Mesquita’s ability to chain submissions is another weapon that makes her so dangerous. When she takes the back, opponents face a constant barrage of collar choke threats, armbar transitions, and body triangle squeezes that drain their energy before the finishing rear-naked choke even arrives. In her seven MMA fights, no opponent has survived past the first round when Mesquita secures a dominant position on the ground.

The Brazilian’s wrestling development also deserves recognition. Working with the coaching staff at American Top Team — including training partners like Maycee Barber, Kayla Harrison, and Amanda Nunes — has sharpened her takedown entries and cage wrestling sequences. She no longer relies solely on pulling guard or waiting for opponents to shoot. She initiates grappling exchanges on her own terms, which is crucial for controlling the pace of an MMA fight.

What Mesquita’s Success Means for BJJ in MMA

For years, the narrative in mixed martial arts has been that pure grapplers struggle to adapt. Wrestlers succeed because they can control where the fight takes place. Strikers succeed because they can keep the fight standing. But BJJ specialists? The common wisdom said they needed too much time on the mat, and modern MMA fighters were too good at scrambling back to their feet.

Mesquita is rewriting that narrative. What makes her transition so impressive is not just that she’s winning — it’s how she’s winning. She’s not pulling guard and waiting for openings. She’s hurting opponents on the feet, forcing bad reactions, and then capitalizing with positional grappling that’s simply on another level. Five of her seven MMA wins have come by submission, and she’s shown knockout power in the others.

Her success follows a broader trend of elite BJJ competitors making waves in MMA. Athletes like Demian Maia, Charles Oliveira, Kron Gracie, and Mackenzie Dern have all demonstrated that world-class jiu-jitsu — when combined with solid takedowns and improved striking — creates a uniquely dangerous fighter. Mesquita may be the best example yet.

UFC Vegas 114 Full Results and Highlights

Mesquita wasn’t the only fighter showcasing grappling dominance on Saturday’s card. The event featured multiple submission finishes and several standout grappling performances that remind us why jiu-jitsu remains the backbone of MMA.

Rising bantamweight prospect Elijah Smith also demonstrated elite finishing ability, submitting SuYoung You with a rear-naked choke at 1:04 of round two. The 23-year-old Smith, now 3-0 in the UFC, has shown a complete skill set that includes both devastating slam knockouts and slick submissions. He’s quickly becoming one of the most exciting young fighters in the 135-pound division.

Veteran Ion Cutelaba pulled off one of the night’s biggest upsets, catching Oumar Sy with a mounted guillotine choke at 4:24 of the first round. The Moldovan’s experience showed as he controlled the grappling exchanges before diving on the fight-ending choke when Sy exposed his neck.

On the striking side, Manoel Sousa delivered a devastating one-punch knockout of Bolaji Oki in the third round, while undefeated prospect Marwan Rahiki earned a TKO victory after breaking Harry Hardwick’s jaw in a brutal two-round war. Rahiki moved to 8-0 with a 100 percent finish rate in his UFC debut.

Myktybek Orolbai put on a grappling clinic against Chris Curtis, setting a new UFC record for most takedowns in a welterweight contest. The Kyrgyzstan native is now 5-1 in the UFC and looks like a legitimate dark horse in the welterweight division. Meanwhile, retiring veteran Eryk Anders collected one final win over Brad Tavares in a middleweight decision before hanging up the gloves after nine years in the UFC.

Complete UFC Vegas 114 Prelim Results:

• Bia Mesquita def. Montserrat Rendon — Submission (rear-naked choke), R1 2:07
• Elijah Smith def. SuYoung You — Submission (rear-naked choke), R2 1:04
• Manoel Sousa def. Bolaji Oki — KO (punch), R3 4:12
• Myktybek Orolbai def. Chris Curtis — Unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
• Vitor Petrino def. Steven Asplund — Unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Eryk Anders def. Brad Tavares — Unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Hecher Sosa def. Luan Lacerda — Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Piera Rodriguez def. Sam Hughes — Unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Main Card Results (Completed Bouts):

• Marwan Rahiki def. Harry Hardwick — TKO (corner stoppage/broken jaw), R2 5:00
• Ion Cutelaba def. Oumar Sy — Submission (mounted guillotine), R1 4:24
• Charles Johnson def. Bruno Silva — Split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

Breaking Down Mesquita’s Grappling Game for MMA

What separates Mesquita from other BJJ practitioners who have tried MMA is the completeness of her positional game. While many submission artists fixate on a single finishing sequence — hunting for armbars from guard or triangles from bottom position — Mesquita operates from every angle. Her back-take ability is arguably the best in women’s MMA history, and she has demonstrated an uncanny sense of timing when transitioning between positions under the chaos of cage fighting.

Her guard passing in MMA has been particularly effective. Against Rendon, she showed heavy pressure passing techniques that pinned her opponent flat against the canvas, eliminating scramble opportunities before they began. This style of grinding, suffocating top control is exactly what made her so dominant in IBJJF competition at the highest level, and it translates beautifully to the smaller UFC cage where fighters have nowhere to retreat.

Mesquita’s ability to chain submissions is another weapon that makes her so dangerous. When she takes the back, opponents face a constant barrage of collar choke threats, armbar transitions, and body triangle squeezes that drain their energy before the finishing rear-naked choke even arrives. In her seven MMA fights, no opponent has survived past the first round when Mesquita secures a dominant position on the ground.

The Brazilian’s wrestling development also deserves recognition. Working with the coaching staff at American Top Team — including training partners like Maycee Barber, Kayla Harrison, and Amanda Nunes — has sharpened her takedown entries and cage wrestling sequences. She no longer relies solely on pulling guard or waiting for opponents to shoot. She initiates grappling exchanges on her own terms, which is crucial for controlling the pace of an MMA fight.

What’s Next for the BJJ Lady GOAT?

At 7-0 with two dominant UFC finishes, Mesquita is on the fast track in the bantamweight division. A matchup against a ranked opponent seems inevitable for her next fight. She’s already expressed confidence about reaching the top 10 within two years of her UFC debut, and based on Saturday’s performance, that timeline seems entirely achievable.

For the Brazilian jiu-jitsu community, Mesquita represents something bigger than wins and losses. She’s living proof that the gentle art can be the most devastating weapon in MMA when wielded by a true master. At 34, she’s on borrowed time compared to most fighters just entering the UFC — but with a lifetime of competition experience and an unrelenting drive, don’t bet against the Lady GOAT adding UFC gold to her already legendary trophy case.

UFC Vegas 114 took place at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 14, 2026. The full event streamed live on Paramount+.