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Bella Mir Shattering The Stereotypes | UFC BJJ 1
21-Year-Old Grappling Great Looks To Add To Decorated Résumé June 25 At UFC BJJ 1
If Bella Mir was a stereotypical college student, summer partying in Las Vegas might just be getting warmed up.
But she’s far from stereotypical. About to head into her fourth year of school at North Central College, the 21-year-old isn’t scoping out plans for vacations or days in the sun. Instead, she’s competing in the first UFC BJJ 1 event against Maria Carolina Joia tonight, then straight from there, she’s back into training for her fourth pro MMA bout against Alivia Bierley on a July 27 Fury Challenger Series event.
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Yeah, this young lady is shattering stereotypes.
“I like to never waste a year,” said Mir. “I feel like I always could accomplish more things throughout my year, even if it's summer.”
And if you think this is the enthusiasm, not just of youth, but of being new to the world of combat sports, that’s not it. In fact, after I tell her that she’s done a lot in 21 years, she responds, “I tell myself otherwise.”
That humility is nice, but displaced, considering that Mir’s resume already includes a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a 3-0 pro MMA record, a 2024 IBJJF NoGi World championship as a blue belt, three IBJJF National championships, status as an NCAA finalist and two-time NCAA All-American as a wrestler, and a place on the U20 & U23 World wrestling teams in wrestling.
That’s a lot and it begs the question, what’s next?
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“The end goal is to be in the UFC,” she said. “But I've been wanting to do other things on my journey there. I feel like I want to do jiu-jitsu, but I always wanted to do it professionally, so I'm excited getting on the UFC BJJ card, and I still have some goals I want to hit in jiu-jitsu. For wrestling, I'm just going to finish out my college career, trying to get that national title. I've made a couple world teams so far, so I definitely think making a senior world team and the Olympic team, of course, have always been two last goals of mine I've wanted to hit. So I’m definitely just going by ear. That's why I'm always trying to keep myself busy, trying to give myself as much opportunity as I can when it comes to wrestling, jitsu and MMA. I've always grown up doing it all. I had my first pro fight at 17 and I started off since I was about four years old, since the youngest little kid could be in the gym. (Laughs) My dad would take me to the gym and I would spar boys in kickboxing and I'd do jiu-jitsu and wrestling and judo. So I've always been doing it all from a young age.”
Ah, her dad. Yes, Bella Mir is the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, one of the greatest grapplers to grace the Octagon, and a man who fought a Who’s Who of the sport during his 15-year UFC career. And as much as jiu-jitsu and MMA shaped his life, Mir didn’t necessarily want his daughter to follow in his footsteps.
“He actually really wanted me to go different directions by playing softball or going to school,” said Bella. “Go to school, play a sport and then just have a normal job. That's always what he wanted us to do. He always wanted me to get into something when it comes to law or medical or something cool. He always thought using your brain instead of your body was always the better route to go. But I fought him for a little bit and then eventually he just said, ‘Well, I'm either going to be on this ride with you or not, so I might as well just be all-in.’”
And what a ride it’s been for Ms. Mir, who may very well be on her way to surpassing her dad’s accomplishments in combat sports. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a 21-year-old’s shoulders, but a) she can handle it, and b) look at the resume thus far.
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“I never saw this as pressure,” she said. “I only see it as just another match, another opportunity to show people my skills and show people what I'm about. I feel like I've always had that pressure, being who my dad is and carrying on his name, but I use that pressure as motivation to really work harder, work smarter in all my training and making sure that I'm doing all the right things. I've just been so used to it from such a young age that I never get nervous for big events, especially wrestling at such a high level, going to the world championships, and qualifying for teams. To qualify for Team USA for wrestling, there's only 10 weight classes, only 10 people get to go. And so wrestling on such a high stage has also helped. I've been at that super high level, so I am used to being there and I never really feel the pressure.”
It's impressive poise from such a young fighter. So how has her father reacted to all this success?
“When it came to softball and football and track and everything, I seemed to excel and so I proved to him at a young age that I wasn't any scrub when it came to anything,” she laughs. “So he would be surprised at first when I was younger just because when it comes to girls in sports, it's kind of hard when you're a man; especially my dad, he's not a normal one. He is 6-3 and 280 pounds. So you're so used to seeing yourself or other people that were exceptional like him. So whenever I was able to surprise him, I knew that was a good thing.”
There are few surprises for the Mir family these days. Bella has proven to be among the best in whatever combat sports discipline she chooses, but one day, you have to assume she’ll have to pick one to focus on. So which of her favorites is she choosing?
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“This is hard,” she laughs. “I feel like all three have a different part of my heart. MMA is kind of a destiny feel, like this is what I'm born to do. When you listen to a song that pumps you up, that's what MMA feels like for me and it’s the fact that I get to do all the sports in one. But then jiu-jitsu is my nerdy side. I just love how technical jiu-jitsu is, and I just love how you see Mikey (Musumeci), for example, he gets that win in the gi against a 400-pound man. And it's not just some normal 400-pound man, it’s a black belt who knows what he's doing. And so that part of me, I love jiu-jitsu. But then, wrestling is my first love. I always loved wrestling. That was the first sport I ever loved growing up. And I feel like what got me into everything was wrestling. I did jiu-jitsu first. That was what I did at first, but I didn't fall in love with it as quickly as I did with wrestling. So I feel like I have to give back to wrestling because that's a sport that got me into doing all three at such a young age. They all have different parts of my heart. That's my answer.”
