Nominee: Bia Mesquita def. Melissa Mullins at UFC Fight Night 279<\/p>\n
Bia Mesquita (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) handled business as she has done throughout her career. It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though, as she had to weather an early scare for the first time as a pro MMA fighter, thanks to the hands of Melissa Mullins, but still won by submission at 3:16 of the first round.<\/p>\n
Mullins (7-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) rocked Mesquita with a fast combination of punches, but was unable to get the finish in the first round. Mesquita managed to grab a hold of Mullins to stay in the fight. Mullins took top position on the ground, but perhaps put herself in more danger, as Mesquita is a high-level grappler. Sure enough, a few moments later, Mesquita threw up an armbar<\/a>, rolled Mullins over, and got the tap.<\/p>\n Nominee: Murtazali Magomedov def. Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Fight Night 279<\/p>\n Murtazali Magomedov put the featherweight division on notice with his debut performance, which was punctuated by a rare submission over Melsik Baghdasaryan<\/p>\n Magomedov (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) lit up Baghdasaryan (8-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with a few sharp strikes on the feet. He then got a takedown and found a way to wrap his opponent up with a twister variation<\/a>, which he says he has worked on in the gym. It was certainly effective, as Baghdasaryan quickly tapped as soon as Magomedov began cranking.<\/p>\n Nominee: Liz Carmouche def. Viviane Araujo at PFL San Diego<\/p>\n The first woman to ever step foot in the UFC cage for a fight, Liz Carmouche is still a top flyweight after all these years.<\/p>\n Carmouche (26-8) “jumped the gilly” and submitted fellow UFC alum Viviane Araujo (14-8) with a guillotine choke<\/a> at 2:07 of Round 2 in the women’s flyweight bout.<\/p>\n The winner: Asu Almabayev def. Charles Johnson at UFC Fight Night 280<\/p>\n Asu Almabayev showed again why he’s a flyweight contender to watch when he taped Charles Johnson with a rare submission.<\/p>\n After putting together a strong 13 minutes of fighting, Almabayev (24-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) sealed the deal by grabbing the leg of Johnson (19-9 MMA, 8-6 UFC), pulling it over the head in an uncomfortable motion to force the tap by Suloev stretch<\/a> in the flyweight matchup.<\/p>\n It was the first finish of its kind in 125-pound history and just the fourth overall in UFC history, and Almabayev’s performance sent the local crowd into frenzy.<\/p>\n After the magnificent performance, Almabayev called for a showdown with flyweight champion Joshua Van<\/a>. He was reminded that Van is likely to defend next against Alexandre Pantoja, and said he will continue to work until he’s the one standing across from an opportunity at gold.<\/p>\n Almabayev joins Kenny Robertson, Aljamain Sterling and Zabit Magomedsharipov as other fighters in UFC history to finish a fight by suloev Stretch. To make it more impressive, it was also the first time Johnson had lost by way of submission.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/90721399007-ufc-fight-night-280-national-gymnastics-arena-baku-azerbaijan-arena-octagon-prefight-2.j.webp\")
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