“The Lady G.O.A.T.” wants a step up in competition.
Undefeated No. 13-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Bantamweight, Bia Mesquita, scored her third win inside the Octagon this past weekend, submitting Melissa Mullins in the first round at UFC Vegas 119 inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).
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For the first time in her mixed martial arts (MMA) career, Mesquita had to deal with some real adversity.
Indeed, Mullins touched her up on the feet and badly rocked the Brazilian early. But, instead of forcing Mesquita to keep striking, Mullins followed her to the ground … and that was all “The Lady G.O.A.T.” needed. Moments later, Mesquita locked up the submission and kept her undefeated record intact.
At 3-0 in UFC with three submission wins, it is time for Mesquita to get a gigantic step up in competition — especially because she is already 35 years old and does not have years to waste slowly climbing the ladder.
After her latest win, Mesquita had a name ready: No. 5-seeded Bantamweight, Ailin Perez.
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“I’m ready for anything, that’s the ‘Lady G.O.A.T.’ mentality,” Mesquita said in the cage. “I want to be in the Top 10, Top 5. Ailin Perez, hey, you’re disgusting for this weight division. This is not a place for you to shake your ass. I’m going to kick your ass, girl.”
So, yeah, Mesquita is clearly not a fan of Perez’s post-fight twerking.
The problem, of course, is that Perez is riding a six-fight win streak and is coming off a dominant victory over divisional staple, Macy Chiasson, meaning she is inching closer to her own possible title shot.
Still, if Perez wants to fight, make some money, and settle things with a surging contender, she has a very willing opponent.
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It would also be a fascinating style matchup.
Perez relies heavily on her wrestling and top control, which has worked extremely well during her UFC run. But willingly grappling with Mesquita feels like a very dangerous game considering she is one of the best — if not the best — pure women’s jiu-jitsu competitors UFC has ever seen.
