Bella Mir has added to her family’s collection of championships.
Her dad Frank was twice the heavyweight champion of the UFC while helping the sport skyrocket in popularity during his 16-year career. He still holds the record for most submission victories in UFC’s heavyweight division with eight.
And now Bella is writing her own history. On Saturday night in the first-ever NCAA Tournament for women’s collegiate wrestling, second-seeded Mir – wrestling for Division III North Central – upset No. 1 Reese Larramendy of Iowa with a 5-0 victory in the championship bout of the 145-pound weight class in Coralville, Iowa.
Mir built a 5-0 lead on Larramendy before delivering what would be the first-ever pin in an NCAA women’s wrestling final. Mir was in control for much of the match and built that advantage up just 40 seconds into the bout against her former teammate – who handed Mir her only loss of the regular season — with a clinical takedown. Less than three minutes into the match, Mir pulled off a superb reversal of a takedown attempt by Larramendy to put on her back and secure the pin.
It ended a 35-match unbeaten streak for Larramendy.
The 22-year-old who started her collegiate career at Iowa before transferring to North Central – located in Naperville, Illinois – didn’t have a point scored against her at the NCAA championships. She won her opener 11-0, and then took 10-0 victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
North Central finished in third place in the overall team standings at the NCAA championships. Division II McKendree won the team title narrowly over second-place Iowa, which is the only Division I school from a Power 4 conference currently sponsoring women’s wrestling at the varsity level.
Mir is viewed by many to be the next great women’s mixed martial arts fighter in UFC. She’s already a two-time world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and owns a 4-0 record as a professional MMA fighter.
Bella was 5 years old when Frank won his second UFC title. Ever since then, she told ESPN in a recent interview, she’s wanted one of her own.
‘There’s been really special people that have stood out in the history of the UFC and the sport,’ UFC president Dana White told ESPN. ‘And I truly believe that Bella will be one of those too.’