Bella Mir has become the biggest betting favourite in women's Contender Series history, surpassing Antonina Shevchenko's -1350 line from 2018. The 23-year-old daughter of Frank Mir headlines Dana White's Contender Series Season 10 on Tuesday, taking on 3-1 bantamweight Alex Apodaca with a UFC contract on the line. Mir previously made history in 2023 as the first athlete to sign an NIL deal with the UFC and most recently picked up a submission win at Fury Challenger Series 14.
Bella Mir enters Dana White's Contender Series Season 10 on Tuesday as the most heavily favored fighter in the history of the women's division of that show, with her opening betting line surpassing the previous record set by Antonina Shevchenko back in 2018.
Shevchenko, now 41, had set that benchmark with a minus-1350 line during her own Contender Series appearance, a figure that stood for years as the ceiling for lopsided women's matchups on the show. The Kyrgyzstan-born southpaw, who stands five-foot-eight with a 67-inch reach and currently holds a professional record of 10 wins and 4 losses, competed out of Tiger Muay Thai and built a reputation for high-output striking, landing 3.86 significant strikes per minute at 55 percent accuracy across her UFC career.
Mir, 23 and the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, has now eclipsed that line heading into her own debut on the series. She faces 3-1 bantamweight Alex Apodaca, with a UFC contract on the line for the winner. Mir arrives with momentum, having most recently earned a submission victory at Fury Challenger Series 14. She also made history in 2023 as the first athlete to sign a name, image, and likeness deal with the UFC, adding a promotional dimension to her profile well before this Tuesday's bout.
Why it matters
- Mir's odds represent a record-setting moment for women's Contender Series history, raising the stakes around her performance
- A victory would deliver the UFC contract she and the promotion have been building toward since her 2023 NIL deal
- The matchup pits her submission-oriented game against Apodaca, who carries a 3-1 record and arrives with her own contract aspirations
- How Mir performs under this level of expectation will define the early arc of what has already been an unconventional path to the octagon
