Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir’s daughter, Bella Mir, entered Dana White’s Contender Series as a massive favorite, with a UFC contract seemingly within reach, about to follow in her father’s footsteps. Instead, the highly accomplished NCAA wrestler suffered a loss in what was the biggest betting upset in the history of the DWCS show.

Mir was listed as high as a -6000 favorite on some betting lines against her opponent Alex Apodaca, who entered the fight as a massive underdog. But after three competitive rounds, Apodaca walked away with a unanimous decision win with the scores reading 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 and a UFC contract in hand, leaving the oddsmakers stunned and Dana White acknowledging the few bettors who took the risk of backing the Texan.

“Well, you know, you can’t have those kinds of underdogs on this show,” Dana White stated in the post-fight interview with Laura Sanko. “Anything is possible, and if the Bella Mir fight didn’t just prove it, I mean, the odds are always way out of whack. I say, if you’re a degenerate gambler, you should be betting on all the underdogs in this sport. Alex would have paid for your whole year. This sport’s too crazy to be that big of an underdog.”

As Dana White pointed out, the few who put their money on Alex Apodaca won big tonight. According to the reported closing odds, Apodaca was around +1200 before the fight. That means a $100 wager on the 32-year-old would have produced a $1,200 profit. For someone willing to risk $100,000, the potential profit would have been a staggering $1.2 million, definitely enough to set someone up for more than a year.

But if we look at the Texan’s victory, it goes way beyond just money. Her win over Bella Mir has cemented its place in UFC history, surpassing not just the biggest betting upset in DWCS history but also some involving legends of the sport.

Before tonight, +900 underdog Yuneisy Duben’s first-round knockout victory over -1500 favorite Shannon Clark was touted as one of the biggest upsets in DWCS history. However, Apodaca closed as a +1200 underdog, making her upset considerably bigger than Duben’s. So, she clearly takes the top spot for the biggest upset in Contender Series history. But that’s not all.

Apodaca also surpassed former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, who was a +850 underdog against -1300 favorite Georges St-Pierre in their first title fight at UFC 69. Serra stunned the MMA world by stopping the heavily favored Canadian in the first round via knockout. Apodaca’s upset of Mir tonight therefore joins a remarkable list of occasions when massive underdogs completely overturned expectations to script history.

But while the betting numbers tell one story, Dana White believes there was another reason behind things going south for the UFC legend’s daughter.

Dana White agrees Bella Mir lacked “deep waters” experience in DWCS upset loss

After the 23-year-old lost her bid to earn a UFC contract at tonight’s Dana White’s Contender Series, Michael Bisping, who was commentating on the fight, pointed out a key element behind her loss. ‘The Count’ felt that Mir lacked experience in dictating the fight when her opponent countered her takedown attempts, something he believed comes with experience.

Dana White agreed with the former middleweight champion’s take, as he believed that was the reason behind Bella Mir’s loss.

“You guys all heard what her goals were over the next several years,” the UFC CEO said at the post-fight press conference. “And again, like I said out there, Bisping absolutely nailed it and said the difference in this fight is deep water. Bella’s never been there, and Alex has.”

Well, the difference in dealing with pressure was apparent when Mir and Apodaca clashed inside the Octagon. The 23-year-old wrestling prodigy tried to use her grappling, but her opponent sternly resisted those takedown attempts. But alongside some very mature defensive grappling, Apodaca also continued her offense by landing teep kicks to the body, which ultimately ended up being the difference-maker in the narrow fight.

However, it’s not like Alex Apodaca had a mountain of experience herself. She entered the fight with a 3-1 professional MMA record, which was actually slightly worse than Mir’s 4-0 record. Still, activity could have been a factor that worked against Frank Mir’s daughter.

Before her bout tonight, Bella Mir’s last MMA fight was against Stephanie Calderon back in July 2025, which is more than a year ago. Meanwhile, Apodaca had fought Devon McDonald in her last MMA fight just a month ago. And that discrepancy in MMA activity was widely on display as the Texan pulled off the upset.

That said, despite Bella Mir’s loss, it’s definitely not hard to admit that she remains one of the brightest prospects currently in MMA, and hopefully, she can make a strong comeback. But it would be interesting to hear her thoughts following this crucial loss.