Beatriz Mesquita survives early scare, submits Mullins at UFC Vegas 119

Beatriz Mesquita got stunned by a left hook and nearly finished, then pulled an armbar from her guard to stay undefeated Saturday night. The American Top Team bantamweight submitted Melissa Mullins 3:16 into the opening round at UFC Vegas 119, per Sherdog's live coverage from the Apex.

Mullins landed the clean hook and swarmed the 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with follow-up punches, putting Mesquita in serious trouble. But the unbeaten grappler dragged her opponent into guard, shook off the fog and locked the finish. Mullins tried to free her arm but tapped moments later, handing Mesquita her third UFC win without a loss and improving her overall record to 8-0. Mullins dropped to 7-3 in her career and 2-3 inside the Octagon.

Flyweight upset and prelim results

Elsewhere on the prelims, ex-Inka FC champion Kevin Borjas handed previously unbeaten Andre Lima his first loss with a unanimous decision at flyweight. Borjas missed weight by three pounds and forfeited 20 percent of his purse but took all three scorecards, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. He staggered Lima with a right hook late in the first round and outlanded him in bursts across 15 minutes, snapping a two-fight skid to move to 11-5 overall and 2-4 in the UFC. Lima fell to 11-1.

Former CES MMA champion Mitch Raposo edged Allan Nascimento by split decision in a flyweight scrap that saw two judges score it 29-28 for Raposo and one for Nascimento. Raposo moved well early, opened a cut under Nascimento's eye and survived a third-round knockdown to improve to 11-3. Nascimento, who dropped to 22-7, suffered his first defeat since October 2021.

Bellator veteran Gaston Bolanos rebounded from a submission loss last year with a unanimous decision over ex-Fury FC titleholder Michael Aswell at featherweight, sweeping the cards 29-28. Levan Chokheli made a statement in his promotional debut, stopping Leon Shahbazyan with punches just 23 seconds into Round 1 at welterweight after folding him with a body shot. Luana Santos took a clean sweep on the scorecards over Karol Rosa at women's bantamweight, and Shane Collins remained unbeaten with a 30-27 shutout of Otari Tanzilovi in a featherweight bout.

Mesquita faces a quick turnaround if the UFC books her for the next bantamweight card in August.

Reported via:

• Sherdog — UFC Vegas 119 Prelims: Beatriz Mesquita dodges bullet, armbars Melissa Mullins