Tyler Durden 
NEW YORK – Should Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison both retire after UFC 334, Bia Mesquita has an idea.
Mesquita (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) takes on Macy Chiasson on Saturday’s prelims at Madison Square Garden (Paramount+) just hours before two of the sports’ all-time great women throw down for the women’s bantamweight title.
If both title fight combatants, who have hinted they don’t have a ton of time left in the game, walk away: Mesquita thinks a win vs. Chiasson (10-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) will qualify her for a vacant title fight – and she knows who she wants on the other side of the equation.
“That would be crazy, right?” Mesquita told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “Well, if they do, I’m ready to step in and fight for it. For sure, I think a title shot against Ailin Perez would be the perfect matchup. I feel like she was so disrespectful so many times when she shakes her ass in the other people’s faces.”
Mesquita, 35, thinks Perez’s signature pre- and post-fight twerks set a bad example for the children who might be watching. A multitime grappling world champion, Mesquita said she’s long prided herself on sportsmanship and class.
“I don’t think a champion needs that to prove they are better or prove they are better fighters,” Mesquita said. “I think you need to be a good example to everyone watching you. Especially, I have a lot of kids that follow me, kid teammates who look up to me as a hero, as a champion. All the time I’m out there in the public and putting on a show, I think about them. I know they are looking up to me and are thinking, ‘I want to be like that.’ Imagine if I said I needed to shake my ass in somebody’s face to be a champion. No. That’s not how things work. I think you need to think of how many people you’re reaching out there and how this is going to impact the future of the whole fighting community.”
First, Mesquita will need to pass her biggest test to date in Chiasson. She’s a moderate favorite entering the bout and is not short on confidence. Mesquita said her three-fight UFC journey to date has surprised her in that she’s exceeded her own expectations. She hopes to keep passing the tests with flying colors – straight to the title.
“I honestly thought it would be a little slower, getting to the rankings, climbing to be a top-10 soon,” Mesquita said. “That’s my goal with this fight. I thought it would take longer, not just a year. It’s been only a year I’ve been signed with the UFC, a year off my first fight, which was October last year in Rio. I thought it would take longer, not much longer, but a little bit longer. Everything is just going and the pace is so perfect that I’m really happy with it. It makes me be sure that things are right.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Bia Mesquita rips ‘disrespectful’ Ailin Perez antics: ‘She shakes her ass in the other people’s faces’
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