Bella Mir to represent USA at U23 Wrestling Worlds before RAF 14 MMA return

Bella Mir faces a packed eleven-day stretch in late October, first representing the United States at the U23 Wrestling World Championships in Las Vegas (Oct. 12–18) before stepping back into the MMA cage against Hope Chase at RAF 14 on October 23.

The wrestling slot opened up after Mir’s scheduled wrestle-off with Kennedy Blades did not take place. Rather than losing her standing, Mir retains the No. 2 position on the 2026–27 U.S. Senior National Team and earns the U23 World Championship berth by default.

The MMA matchup with Chase, announced by Real American Freestyle last week, marks Mir’s first competitive outing since August, when she suffered a loss to Alex Apodaca on Dana White’s Contender Series. That defeat dropped her to 4-1 as a professional.

Mir arrived in MMA with considerable credentials on the mat, having captured an NCAA women’s wrestling championship before making the transition to fighting. The U23 Worlds assignment underlines that she remains an active and ranked figure in elite amateur wrestling even as she builds her professional cage career.

With a high-level wrestling tournament and an MMA bout packed into less than a fortnight, the coming weeks will offer a sharp test of where Mir stands in both disciplines as she looks to rebound from the DWCS setback.