Bella Mir has her date, her opponent, and her shot at the UFC roster. The undefeated daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will headline Dana White’s Contender Series on August 25 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas, facing Alex Apodaca in a women’s bantamweight main event.
The booking was first flagged by theMMAmatchmaker and reported by MMA Fighting. It falls in Week 3 of Season 10, which opened Tuesday and streams on Paramount+.
Mir is 23 and 4-0 as a professional, having turned pro in October 2020 at 17 years old. She won her debut by decision and has finished every opponent since, with her last three wins all coming by first-round submission.
The layoff is the open question. Her most recent MMA bout was a submission win over Stephanie Calderon at Fury FC more than a year ago, though she has stayed busy in the UFC’s BJJ promotion and submitted her opponent at UFC BJJ 9. Mir was also the first athlete to sign an amateur NIL deal with the UFC, which she did while wrestling in college.
Apodaca Is Not A Soft Landing
Apodaca arrives at 3-1 on a three-fight winning streak, most recently beating Devon McDonald at Fury FC 122 on July 24. All three of those wins came by unanimous decision, and she has no finishes on her professional record, which frames the night clearly for Mir: get her out of there, or win rounds against someone who has repeatedly proven she can go the distance.
Closing the card puts Mir directly in front of White and the UFC matchmakers, but a win guarantees nothing. Contracts are awarded at White’s discretion after each show, and the Octagon has not been kind to every graduate of the program. Hailey Cowan, a former Contender Series standout, retired after an 0-4 UFC run ended at UFC Belgrade earlier this month.
The rest of the Week 3 card features Carlos Petruzzella vs. Nick Galanti, Gary Balletto vs. Sean Clancy Jr., Alexis Miranda vs. Ronald Humphrey, and Mario Piazzon vs. Guilherme Uriel.
