Borjas survives – Beatriz Mesquita tapped Irina Alekseeva and then strolled past Melissa Mullins with an armbar, improving to 3-0 in the UFC at UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi. Kevin Borjas endured a long stretch on the canvas after a low blow from Andre Lima, then stunned
Beatriz Mesquita didn’t just win—she finished the moment she smelled the opening.
At UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi on Saturday night at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. the women’s bantamweight prospect—touted for her elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree—overcame being rocked by England’s Melissa Mullins and seized control with an armbar submission. It sent Mesquita to 3-0 inside the UFC.
The 135-pound contest came after a steady climb that has looked almost inevitable so far. Mesquita had submitted Irina Alekseeva in her October UFC debut, then Montserrat Rendon earlier this year in March, with both wins coming via rear-naked chokes.
This time, she leaned on the kind of control that once made her one of Brazil’s most decorated grapplers. Mesquita. 35. is a 10-time world champion in her jiu-jitsu career and trains out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek. Florida. There she shares a gym with current 135-pound UFC champion Kayla Harrison.
For Mesquita, the path into mixed martial arts has been short and sharp. She made her professional MMA debut two years ago and is already 8-0. She won a Legacy Fighting Alliance title in just her fifth pro bout, exactly one year before tapping Mullins.
Mullins, meanwhile, is also a jiu-jitsu black belt and had never previously been submitted during MMA competition—until Saturday night.
The spotlight shifted just afterward to Kevin Borjas, and the tension in the preliminary bouts turned ugly fast.
In the final preliminary bout, Borjas was down on the canvas in pain for five minutes after taking a low blow from Andre Lima. The bout nearly ended in a no-contest, but it continued, and Borjas pulled off the upset.
The foul happened early in the second round following a close opening five minutes. Borjas was the biggest underdog on the entire card, yet he walked away with a unanimous decision victory and became the first fighter to beat Lima.
There was a separate sting attached to the fight even before the bell. Borjas was the lone fighter on the card to miss weight Friday, coming in three pounds over the flyweight limit. That meant he forfeited 20% of his purse to Lima.
If the Borjas-Lima bout offered a lesson in survival, the rest of the prelims delivered their own reminders of how quickly UFC nights can swing.
Welterweight Levan Chokheli posted a dominant 23-second win over Leon Shahbazyan. Georgia’s Chokheli, 29, is a seven-fight Bellator MMA veteran and showed up in his UFC moment. Shahbazyan, 30, is the older brother of a UFC middleweight who is 12-5 in MMA, with all five losses by KO/TKO.
Featherweight Michael Aswell Jr., from Houston-based 4oz. Fight Club, had special support in the building with reigning UFC men’s flyweight champion Joshua Van cheering him on. Still. the judges’ scorecards went against Aswell: he lost a tightly contested unanimous decision to Gaston Bolanos. with all three judges scoring 29-28—two rounds to one.
Women’s bantamweight veteran Karol Rosa kept her run of going the distance for the 13th consecutive time. continuing the pattern of alternating wins and losses. But the streak ended with a different outcome as she dropped a unanimous decision to fellow Brazilian Luana Santos. who has now won three in a row.
Mitch Raposo had a scare late, recovering from a knockdown midway through the final round to edge out Allan Nascimento by split decision. The win also snapped Nascimento’s four-fight winning streak.
And in the opening preliminary bout, UFC newcomers Shane Collins and Otari Tanzilovi battled for 15 spirited minutes, with Collins sweeping the scorecards.
Saturday night at the Meta Apex left one clear image: Mesquita’s calm precision at 135 pounds, and Borjas’s ability to keep moving even after Lima’s low blow turned the fight into a near-halt—and then, somehow, into an upset.
UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi Beatriz Mesquita Melissa Mullins armbar Kevin Borjas Andre Lima Andre Lima low blow missed weight 20% purse forfeiture Irina Alekseeva Montserrat Rendon UFC prelims results Levan Chokheli Leon Shahbazyan Michael Aswell Jr. Joshua Van Gaston Bolanos Karol Rosa Luana Santos Mitch Raposo Allan Nascimento Shane Collins Otari Tanzilovi