Bella Mir welcomes fight against Mya Lesnar to settle rivalry between their fathers: ‘Who wouldn’t want to see that?’
Bella Mir always embraced following in her father’s footsteps, but she’s actually taken on a new responsibility in her combat sports career when it comes to being Frank Mir’s daughter.
A decorated wrestler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist, the 22-year-old prospect is now preparing for her fourth MMA fight on Sunday with plans to eventually compete in the UFC one day in the future. While she’s definitely carving out her own path, Mir has really started to embrace the role she plays representing next generation after her father was one of the greatest heavyweights in UFC history.
“I think a lot of people that have parents that were really great, especially like my dad, want to build their own legacy,” Mir explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “But I just love being a part of his [legacy], and I love that he gets to be a part of mine, too, in the future when he’s going to be one of the best MMA coaches in the world, and I definitely believe that. So I definitely think that we share each other’s story.
“Sometimes I’m just like I wish they would create a movie or something, this is just so cool. You just don’t see it actually happen in real life. Your father is a two-time UFC heavyweight champ and then you go and win all this and take that spot from him. I think it’s so cool. I love that we share a legacy.”
Mir has lofty goals when it comes to her own career, and her dad has remained a huge source of inspiration and knowledge as she continues to learn, adapt and grow as a fighter. In fact, she says her father has repeatedly told her that she means as much to his legacy as any title belt or championship he claimed in his own career.
That means a lot to Mir but she’s accepted the expectations that come along with having such a famous last name and her greatest wish is making her father proud.
“I’m definitely starting to realize, I like being a part of his [legacy] more than creating my own,” Mir said. “I feel like creating my own was my way of escaping his shadow. But now it’s like I feel like [he’s] bringing me up and it’s just cool to be a part of.”
Of course, Mir is part of an exclusive club of athletes coming from a championship lineage, although due to MMA’s relative young age as a sport, it’s only in recent years when sons and daughters of past greats are starting to make waves of their own.
While Mir followed her dad into fighting, Mya Lesnar — daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar — has become a top track star at Colorado State where she just recently became a national champion in the shot put.
Because Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar split a pair of fights during their respective UFC careers, Bella admits she gets asked about Mya Lesnar quite often and she definitely understands the interest. Mir defeated Lesnar in his UFC debut and then Lesnar paid Mir back with a TKO win in the rematch at UFC 100.
The heavyweights never got a chance to meet again to settle the trilogy.
For that reason alone, Bella would love the opportunity to perhaps create one of the most viral fights in history by settling the rivalry that never got finished in the UFC by actually facing Mya Lesnar in the cage.
“It’s funny you say that about Mya Lesnar, the amount of people that have asked me if I want to fight her and do the Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir trilogy but in daughter form,” Mir said. “I know Dana [White] would 100 percent approve of that if Mya was fighting. So if Mya Lesnar, if you’re ever hearing this, you should train and we could just have a little fight. Because that would be awesome. Who wouldn’t want to see that?
“I’m like Mya, just train for a year. She’s athletic. She’ll get it down. She trains for a year? That would be insane. Honestly.”
Mya Lesnar is an athletic freak in her own right but she’s never talked publicly about competing in sports that made her father famous after he was a NCAA Champion in wrestling before winning the UFC heavyweight title.
That said, Mir can’t ignore the incredible opportunity potentially available to them, especially with the history between their fathers.
“That actually would be crazy,” Mir said. “Maybe the universe, it knew her and I were going to finish that trilogy fight so they didn’t have our dads finish it. That would be awesome. I think I would be more hyped for that than anyone watching honestly.”
Regardless of that potential fight, Mir knows that she’s going to have more eyeballs on her performances than the average athlete no matter who she faces but that’s a reality she’s lived with from the day she decided to do MMA.
With the UFC always looking for potential superstars, Mir definitely fits that mold but she’s not shying away from the spotlight. Instead, she embraces that opportunity and appreciates that people are already talking about her and the potential she has to impact the sport.
“I feel like being around my dad and who he is and dealing with that pressure my whole life, I never feel the pressure, I just live in the moments and I absolutely love what I do,” Mir said. “My dad’s super good when it comes to mindset and mentality. We have conversations all the time and he’ll teach me about how he’s always taught me ‘you’re not in my shadow, you’re my legacy.’ You’re dealing with those demons before fights. It’s like accept them. Why ignore them? Accept them and tell them that you’re going to prove them wrong.
“I definitely feel like my mindset going into the UFC when that day comes, I definitely feel like I’m not going to feel the pressure but I appreciate that people if they do want me to take that spot. I love competing and I love competing in front of people and I definitely feel like the UFC is the place that I want to end up at.”