The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree.
17-year old Bella Mir, daughter of MMA superstar Frank Mir won her debut at the iKON Fight Federation 2 event in Sonora, Mexico over Danielle Wynn (0-1) from Georgia, who also made her debut. In the 137-lb catch-weight bout, she received a 29-28 score in all three rounds to secure a unanimous decision triumph.
Bella Mir, daughter of former UFC figher Frank Mir, wins her pro debut via unanimous decision.#MMA pic.twitter.com/XRvTWUSla1
— MMAWrestle_Chat (@MMAWrestle_Chat) October 23, 2020
Having father Frank in her corner paid major dividends as she opened the first round with a takedown, but Wynn kept Mir at bay from adding more offense and resulted in a bloody nose. The second round showcased her grappling and ground and pound work, showing more shades of her father, and even attempted an armbar in the third round before Wynn made a comeback by staving off the submission and fought back.
Streamed live on UFC Fight Pass, Mir commented on the victory. “It means so much to me, having my first pro fight and following the footsteps of my dad,” Mir said. “I think the nerves got me out of my head a little bit just because it was something different, and I didn’t know what to expect, but that second and third round I started to get into it.”
With wrestling and softball under her belt, it was only a matter of time before she made the official jump to combat sports to become that second-generation fighter with a great deal of honor. With a long way to go, she also has plenty of time to hone her craft. Also, her inspiration wasn’t father Frank as much as it was UFC female pioneer bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey. Before the fight, she discussed how Rousey was an inspiration for her to dive in headfirst into MMA. “That just kind of motivated me. If I see another girl do it, I have to do it and I want to do it better.”
Bella Mir (Frank Mir’s 17 year old daughter) just won her pro MMA debut at iKON 2 pic.twitter.com/3Tns1aeob0
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 23, 2020
Frank further spoke on how Rousey continues to empower girls and young women to follow their dreams or at least give it their best shot to take a chance at “The Hurt Business
“So when she saw Ronda at a young age and I always told her girl fighting was never going to be in the UFC,” explains Mir. “That’s what I thought 15 years ago. Once Ronda broke those barriers and crossed over, I was like this is going to happen.”
