The sky might be the limit for grappling great Beatriz
Mesquita as she crosses over into MMA this weekend.
A 10-time jiu-jitsu world champion, Mesquita is joining the ranks
of MMA on Saturday at
Spaten Fight Night. She faces fellow debutant Jorgina
Ramos, in a matchup highly anticipated by the BJJ community as
well as a litany of fans in Brazil. Considered one of the greatest
female champions in the history of jiu-jitsu, the IBJJF Hall of
Famer has been training MMA at American Top Team for nearly a year
with coach “Parrumpinha” Marcos da
Matta.
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“She arrived raw but her evolution is impressive,” Da Matta told
Sherdog. “She helped Kayla
[Harrison], ‘Sheetara’ [Mayra
Bueno Silva]. She started getting beaten up a lot, and today
she’s already making girls like Michelle
[Montague], who has five MMA fights, look like [a] white belt
training with her.”
According to the Carlson Gracie black belt, while training at ATT,
Mesquita took matches at various grappling tournaments and faced
off against MMA standouts. In December, Mesquita armbarred former
Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Miesha Tate,
and she made a splash at Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship in March by
choking out former UFC flyweight title challenger Jennifer
Maia in short order. According to “Parrumpinha,” it is only a
matter of time until the bantamweight makes her way to the UFC.
“We want to have three fights this year,” the coach explained. “Two
more in 2025 and throw her among the best. In reality, the UFC is
in need of someone like Bia at 135. They have Mackenzie
[Dern] at 115, maybe Erin
Blanchfield in 125, but no one in her jiu-jitsu level in 135.
In addition to being a jiu-jitsu legend who fights to submit, Bia
speaks good English, knows how to sell fights and is very
pretty.”
In her coach’s opinion, the debut against Ramos will be a major
litmus test for the grappler. The stakes of the match are high
despite it being a pro debut match given that it is the only MMA
fight on the card. The show, headlined by an exhibition boxing
match between Anderson
Silva and Chael
Sonnen, will air live on Combat and Rede Global in Brazil
likely in front of a sizeable audience. The spotlight is on the
33-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, and she faces a woman in Ramos who
comes over from boxing and should have the advantage on the
feet.
“Without a doubt, ‘Jojo’ Ramos deserves all the respect. She has
already entered the ring to do kickboxing and boxing fights, but
she will also make her MMA debut. It will be a classic striker vs.
grappler [matchup] and I bet Bia will win,” the ATT coach
concluded.