LAS VEGAS — Bella Mir has spent her entire life around mixed martial arts, but the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir is now preparing to carve out a legacy of her own.
The undefeated 23-year-old prospect will attempt to secure a UFC contract when she faces Alex Apodaca in the featured women’s bantamweight bout at Dana White’s Contender Series 89 on August 25 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. And UFC CEO Dana White isn’t hiding his excitement about Mir’s potential.
“Yeah, I’m very excited about Bella,” White said Tuesday. “I’ve been very involved in her life the last four years. It’s going to be fun.”
For Mir, however, simply reaching the UFC isn’t the ultimate goal. She wants championships across multiple combat sports and even an Olympic medal.
More Than Frank Mir’s Daughter
Being the daughter of a former UFC heavyweight champion naturally brings attention, but Bella Mir has already started establishing her own resume. Mir enters her Contender Series appearance with a 4-0 professional MMA record and an extensive background in wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
White believes that combination makes her a particularly intriguing prospect. He has also played a surprisingly significant role in Mir’s development.
“I’ve been talking about her career with her for four years,” White said.
According to White, Mir was prepared to pursue fighting immediately after graduating from high school, but he encouraged her to attend college instead.
“I’m the one who pushed her to go to college and get a college education because she was ready to start fighting right out of high school.”
The idea wasn’t to delay her combat sports career. It was to build a stronger foundation for it.
Olympic Dreams for 2028
Mir’s ambitions extend far beyond earning a UFC contract. She has expressed interest in pursuing a spot on the United States wrestling team for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which could put her in position to attempt something unprecedented.
Mir hopes to become the first active UFC fighter to compete in Olympic wrestling. But according to White, that’s only one piece of her larger plan.
“The Olympics, UFC championship, Zuffa Boxing, and UFC BJJ, she wants a title in all of those organizations,” White said.
It’s an extraordinarily ambitious goal, especially for a fighter who hasn’t officially reached the UFC roster yet. White says those aspirations came directly from Mir.
White Calls Mir “Special”
What appears to impress White most is Mir’s ability to transition between disciplines. While concentrating primarily on wrestling during school, Mir would return home during breaks and compete in jiu-jitsu tournaments despite not training specifically for them at the time. And she kept winning.
“This girl would go to school and she was wrestling, and then she’d come home on vacation—you know, you come home, Thanksgiving and Christmas—and she would enter these jiu-jitsu competitions and win them,” White said.
“While she was only wrestling, not even doing jiu-jitsu. So, she’s special.”
That versatility could become a defining characteristic of Mir’s career if she continues pursuing championships across MMA, wrestling, boxing and submission grappling.
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Robert LaMar is a Deputy Editor for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
