Upset queen Apodaca earns UFC deal then defends Bella Mir from post-DWCS backlash

Alex Apodaca secured a UFC contract by defeating Bella Mir via decision in what has been called the biggest upset in Dana White’s Contender Series history, and she is now using her moment in the spotlight to defend the fighter she beat.

Apodaca entered the bout as a heavy underdog against the highly touted Mir, with many in the MMA community viewing her as little more than a stepping stone. The outcome flipped that narrative entirely. Yet rather than pile on as critics have targeted Mir’s performance, Apodaca has been measured and respectful in the aftermath.

“I will say she’s good. I don’t want to discredit her or me by saying she’s not,” Apodaca told TMZ. “I definitely thought this would be so insane if I pulled this off. But I did want to do it. I did want to pull it off.”

Apodaca acknowledged that the pre-fight perception — that she was a “sacrificial lamb” — occasionally crept into her own thinking, even if she never fully believed it.

“I’m just like the sacrificial lamb being thrown in is kind of the thought that people are thinking, which I was like, that’s insane,” she said. “Nothing points to the fact that I’m just going to go out there and just like get smashed. Every once in a while I’d be like, ‘I’m going to win. I’m going to win.’ But then I’d look at my coach and be like, ‘You think she’s really that good?’ Like, dude, what is happening?”

Mir, the daughter of UFC heavyweight legend Frank Mir, had arrived at the Contender Series with considerable expectations. The backlash following her loss has been sharp, but Apodaca is unwilling to add to it — a stance that speaks as much to her character as to the scale of the result itself.

With a UFC contract now in hand, Apodaca transitions from long-shot challenger to signed prospect, carrying with her one of the most surprising results the Contender Series has produced.