You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!<\/p>\n
Only one athlete made her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut in \u201cMarvelous City\u201d yesterday (Sat., Oct. 11, 2025) at UFC Rio<\/a> inside Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil \u2014 and it couldn\u2019t have gone much better<\/a>.<\/p>\n UFC Rio\u2019s lone rookie turned heads with a dominant performance, so now that the dust has settled, let\u2019s grade her debut below:<\/p>\n Mesquita entered fight week as the biggest betting favorite<\/a> on the card (-650<\/a>), and she fought exactly like it. She dominated Irina Alekseeva from start to finish, battering her on the mat before finally locking up a rear-naked choke for the submission win (watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n Heading in, I said the only real concern<\/a> for Mesquita was her raw striking, and while she threw a few looping punches early, her elite grappling quickly took over.<\/p>\n In the first round, she was a bit hesitant at first, but once she threw an overhand right into a clinch, it was all downhill for Alekseeva. Mesquita converted that into a takedown, transitioned straight to mount, and unleashed brutal ground-and-pound \u2014 punches, elbows, and even a few borderline 12-6 shots while threatening a scarf choke. She easily could\u2019ve earned a first-round stoppage if not for Alekseeva\u2019s toughness.<\/p>\n By Round 2, with 10-8s across all three judges\u2019 scorecards, Mesquita had enough. She hit a clean double-leg takedown, passed guard, took the back, and sank in the choke<\/a>.<\/p>\n For a UFC debut, it was about as perfect as you can get \u2014 complete dominance mixed with relentless aggression.<\/p>\n She\u2019s still raw, and her striking will likely cause problems against top-tier competition, but that\u2019s a conversation for another day.<\/p>\n At 34 years old, and with the division as thin<\/a> as it is, UFC might be tempted to fast-track her up the rankings. Hopefully, they don\u2019t rush her \u2014 one more fight outside the Top 15<\/a> would make sense, perhaps against Montserrat Rendon.<\/p>\n