UFC Rio week, and fighters are starting to arrive in the
Marvelous City.
Sherdog.com visited the host hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and
chatted with the most anticipated newcomer for the event, 10-time
jiu-jitsu world champion Beatriz
Mesquita. Born in Rio de Janeiro, the
American Top Team athlete will make her dream
UFC debut against “Russian Ronda,” Irina
Alekseeva.
“I’m incredibly motivated for this UFC debut, fighting in my
hometown, with the support of the fans, 16 months after my MMA
debut,” the black belt told Sherdog. She arrives at the world’s
biggest promotion after winning the Legacy Fighting Alliance belt
12 months after her MMA debut. Weighing in at 67 kilograms (147
pounds) four days before weigh-ins, Mesquita assures she won’t have
any problems with the scale.
“I’m very professional about it. I’ve been fighting jiu-jitsu since
I was 6 years old, and I’ve been competing my entire life,” she
said. “I’m proud to say I’ve never missed weight. And look, in
jiu-jitsu, you weigh in on the day of the fight. In MMA, I still
have 24 hours to recover, so you can rest assured I’ll make weight
on Friday.”
Analyzing her opponent, Mesquita sees a favorable matchup for her
debut.
“One obvious thing for my opponents is to try to keep the fight
standing,” Mesquita said. “But since I’ve seen her last fights, and
she likes the grappling game, I think she’ll accept the ground
game. Even Klaudia
Sygula, who beat her in her last fight, helped me a lot at ATT.
I’ve evolved a lot in my stand-up and wrestling, but obviously my
expectation is to get a takedown and finish as quickly as
possible.”
Mesquita Inspired by UFC Bantamweight Queen
With UFC bantamweight champion Kayla
Harrison as one of her main training partners, Mesquita
acknowledges that the Olympic champion’s support was crucial to her
development.
“She welcomed me very warmly, and I helped her throughout the
camps, especially with the ground game,” Mesquita said. “And my
entry into the UFC didn’t shake our friendship at all. Quite the
contrary, she continued to be incredibly helpful. Kayla is truly a
huge inspiration. Having lost a lot of weight to reach this
division, she’s in the gym every day, and that’s incredibly
inspiring. She never loses her training rhythm and never reaches
her comfort zone. Something I’ve always had, too. And that’s what
makes the difference between a good fighter and a champion.”
While she doesn’t hide her ambition to be where her teammate is
today, Mesquita knows the road to the top of the division is still
long and isn’t thinking about a confrontation with Harrison.
“My plan is to win this first fight well. Then, if I win two more,
I think I’ll reach the rankings. The road is long, and I don’t know
if she’ll still be fighting when my time comes to fight for the
belt. The most important thing is that there’s no competition
between us. For now, we’re a team and we continue to help each
other, literally exchanging blows everyday, and this has been very
good for both of our developments.”
