Bia Mesquita made the Guinness World Information with most gold medals gained at IBJJF World Championship, and is now pushed to pursue historical past contained in the octagon. The ten-time IBJJF champion and one-time ADCC gold medalist is losing no time in blended martial arts, going 3-0 with three rear-naked chokes in a span of six months to enter this yr as one of many prime prospects to observe.
Set to face Hope Chase in a bantamweight showdown at LFA 203, which takes place Thursday evening on the Palms On line casino Resort in Las Vegas, Mesquita hopes to safe a contract with the UFC with one other end.
“I’ll be preventing in Vegas in per week that’s gigantic for the UFC,” Mesquita informed MMA Preventing. “There’s UFC Invitational on Thursday, Energy Slap on Friday, and UFC 313 on the T-Cellular Enviornment [Saturday], so I feel that’s an enormous alternative for me. God keen, I’ll be capable to present up there and do some community and extra doorways will open for me — and possibly already put a foot within the UFC and the contract comes. I’m able to signal with the UFC as quickly as they name me.”
If the provide doesn’t come this week, Mesquita vows to remain energetic and add extra wins to her MMA file — and possibly the LFA bantamweight belt — to then persuade Dana White and firm matchmakers she’s UFC materials.
“The boss will make the decision and I’ll say, ‘Ship me location,’” Mesquita laughed. “I’m prepared for this. My aim is to make noise and make the distinction. That is one other step in that route. Irrespective of how lengthy it takes, I actually imagine I’ll signal with the UFC this yr.”
Mesquita stated it might be doable to make 125 kilos in MMA, however it may have an effect on her sport. Being a high-level grappler requires energy and energy, and he or she fears that slicing further 10 kilos may diminish her talents the next day. That, and the actual fact girls’s bantamweight is among the shallowest weight courses within the UFC at the moment.
“I’m slicing extra weight to enter a division, however do I actually wanna be simply one other one there?” Mesquita stated. “There’s 30 ladies there, a ton of nice fighters, in the meantime 135 is like… Positive, the highest 10 is stacked, however the path is shorter. I’ll be stronger at 135, more healthy to combat. It’s already a conflict to make weight for 135, think about at 125. … I imagine I’ll simply be within the prime 10 [of the UFC] in a single or two years, preventing on the prime. That’s one other advantage of this division.”
Julianna Peña presently holds the UFC title at 135 kilos, and Kayla Harrison is probably going subsequent in line. Mesquita trains alongside Harrison each day in Florida, and celebrates the assistance of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL championship below the identical roof at American Prime Group.
“Kayla is a phenom,” Mesquita stated. “We assist one another so much. If Kayla places you towards the cage or clinch, the takedown is coming. It’s surreal. Her judo is so, so, so good. And that’s precisely how I really feel about my floor sport. The extent is totally different. I do know I’ll get to the submission after I take somebody down. And that’s nice as a result of we assist one another a lot in observe. It’s priceless to be surrounded by folks like that. There’s no different future however to be champion as a result of everyone is on the identical vibe, the identical self-discipline, the identical vitality. It makes the method a lot simpler.”
Mesquita moved to American Prime Group and “turned a white belt once more” in MMA, getting punched within the face in sparring to comprehend it lit a hearth that was now not there within the jiu-jitsu circuit. She credit ATT head coach Marcos Parrumpa for the evolution in a brand new sport, studying new method in each facet of the sport — even grappling.
“My jiu-jitsu at the moment isn’t the identical of after I gained the ADCC in 2017. Lots has modified,” Mesquita stated. “And the combat begins on the toes and I must take somebody down with the intention to use my jiu-jitsu. Did I keep away from getting punched and took somebody down? Good. I can’t waste alternatives. I’m snug on the bottom, however the wrestling I’m coaching now could be fully totally different than the one I skilled for jiu-jitsu. Now I prepare to place myself for jiu-jitsu with floor and pound, punching to create area to advance place and submit. It’s all fully totally different.”
“I’ve to maintain my jiu-jitsu on the highest stage, in fact,” she continued. “I can’t let it drop as a result of that is my background. I’ll by no means be a striker. That gained’t occur. If I can, I’ll be like Demian Maia. Get there, takedown, submit. That’s my dream [laughs]. I’m 33 at the moment and I don’t have time for that, so let’s work the gamers with have on the group, which is jiu-jitsu [laughs].”
Mesquita needed to make the transition to MMA earlier, however it was exhausting to drag the plug and stop a sport she did for almost three many years. Mesquita took grappling matches with MMA veterans to make some cash and discover out extra about MMA grappling, defeating former UFC champion Miesha Tate and one-time UFC title contender Jennifer Maia earlier than the transition, and realized it was exhausting discovering girls keen to face such a jiu-jitsu beast in a MMA cage.
“If you happen to’re a fighter, you must combat,” Mesquita stated of the wrestle for opponents early in her profession. “If you wish to be a champion, you must combat whoever they put in entrance of you. You don’t get to select and select. That’s how I made my profession in jiu-jitsu, and I gained’t likelihood in MMA. If I wish to be an awesome MMA champion like I used to be in jiu-jitsu, I’ve to be able to face whoever comes.”
The brief however already intense MMA profession has taught Mesquita necessary classes about herself as a girl and athlete, but additionally opened her eyes on how losses are handled in comparison with jiu-jitsu. Mesquita has but to style defeat below the LFA banner, and getting her palms raised after every of her MMA bouts felt totally different than the a whole bunch of jiu-jitsu wins.
“In jiu-jitsu, you lose a match, there’s one other one subsequent week. And one other huge event subsequent month,” Mesquita stated. “I really feel that reminiscence is shorter in jiu-jitsu. You lose the Pans? You’ll be able to win the Mundial two months later and nobody will do not forget that. It’s not the identical in MMA. The [loss] will keep in your file. I really feel that each time I combat I’m getting one step nearer to my aim, which is to compete with the world’s greatest and turn out to be champion. I’m not right here to be one other one.
“And I do know that this division nonetheless doesn’t have many huge names. It’s nonetheless fairly empty, let’s put it this fashion. The champion is altering on a regular basis, and I see an enormous alternative with my background, knowhow and expertise. I’m an athlete my whole life and I’m coming to make some noise, to turn out to be champion, and be among the many greatest.”
