Bella Mir continues to make her own name in the world of combat sports. It’s no secret that Mir has the backing of Dana White, and now the 23-year-old daughter of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir is prepared to take advantage of that support on her way to the top.
“Lady” Mir has strong ambitions that extend well beyond earning a UFC contract. Fighting out of Sin City, the undefeated UFC NIL athlete will headline Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday, but the opportunity represents only one part of a much larger plan. Mir intends to pursue championships in the UFC, UFC BJJ and Zuffa Boxing while continuing her bid to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling.
I just tell everyone why not? I feel like that’s my two words when going through adversity or anything that’s going on. Like why not me? If I’m already at a high level of wrestling and jiu-jitsu and about to be MMA right now, why not keep taking up steps until we’re the best in the world? I don’t want to just go for world titles. I want to go for a legacy. I want to be legendary. I want to shoot for the highest I can get. I just want to be in that talks of best athletes of all-time. I don’t even want to be the best MMA fighter, or the best combat athlete. I want to be the best athlete of all-time. I just want to hit the highest of goals that you can hit and I just stay focused and I just always reminding myself of those dreams of mine,” Bella Mir told MMA Fighting.
Mir enters the Contender Series with a 4-0 professional MMA record and will face Alex Apodaca in the women’s bantamweight main event. A strong performance could earn her a place on the UFC roster, although she has no plans to abandon wrestling if she receives a contract.
Earlier this year, Mir completed her senior season at North Central College by winning the NCAA championship at 145 pounds. She had previously wrestled at Iowa, where she became the first college athlete to sign a name, image and likeness agreement with the UFC. Her next major wrestling assignment is already scheduled. Mir will meet 2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades in a rescheduled Final X series on Sept. 25 in Columbus, Ohio. The winner of the best-of-three competition will claim the United States’ 68-kilogram spot at the World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan.
Mir is also targeting the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. She said that goal was discussed with UFC CEO Dana White before she accepted the Contender Series booking.
According to Mir, White supported the idea and was willing to arrange her MMA schedule around a future Olympic training camp. That backing gives her an opportunity to pursue several combat-sports goals without immediately choosing one discipline over another. She elaborated on White and UFC backing her Olympic dreams.
That was definitely a conversation I had with [Dana White] before going on Contenders, because this is a long time. Who in the wrestling community has wrestled and didn’t think about wanting to go to the Olympics? That’s every wrestler’s dream. So there’s nothing special about having a dream like that but I asked him, too, I want to try to shoot for 2028. Is that going to be an issue? He’s like ‘no, I think it’s so sick that you’re trying to do it all.’ He’s so supportive of me and when the time comes plan it out where I can have a fight right before I start that training camp for the Olympics. So I’m not gone for too long,” Bella Mir explained to MMA Fighting.
Managing those pursuits will require careful timing. Mir continues to train in wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and MMA, narrowing her focus only when an important competition approaches.
The first test comes on the Contender Series, where Mir can take a significant step toward her UFC championship goal. One month later, the series against Blades will determine whether her path to a world wrestling title, and potentially Olympic gold, remains on schedule.
