Alex Apodaca did it. She actually did it.
On Tuesday night, Apodaca faced Bella Mir in the main event of Week 3 of Contender Series, coming in as the biggest underdog in the show’s history. To most, Apodaca was supposed to be a stepping stone for Mir to move on to the UFC, but Apodaca didn’t get that memo. Instead, Apodaca scored one of the biggest upsets in MMA history by outworking Mir over 15 minutes to win a unanimous decision.
The win earned Apodaca a UFC contract and praise from CEO Dana White, and although she had promised to shock the world beforehand, doing so still left Apodaca stunned herself.
“This shit’s crazy,” Apodaca said at her post-fight press conference. “I was totally alarmed by the whole thing. I was kind of expecting it, but you know, the actual reality of it has hit, so it kind of feels like a fever dream. …
“It’s sick. I think it’s so cool that I pulled it off,” Apodaca said later. “Like I said, it’s hard to believe sometimes.”
Apodaca didn’t win by accident. The 32-year-old bantamweight was unfazed by the hype behind Mir, stymying Mir’s vaunted grappling game and piling up damage on the feet. Mir had some success early, but by the end of the first round, Apodaca says she knew she was going to win.
“I assumed she was going to wrestle. I think everybody did,” Apodaca said. “It was like, ‘Let’s get her on the ground and submit her.’ That was probably the plan. Once I felt her, once I touched her and felt her, I was like, alright, we’ve got this shit in the bag. …
“At the end of the first round, when I ended up on top, I knew it then. Yeah, I did [feel she was defeated then]. I could also tell she hadn’t been in the second and third round much, and that’s where I live, so I was fine with it.”
On top of her lack of experience, Apodaca thinks Mir also may have been a little overconfident heading into the fight, which helped her.
“I do think she got a little caught up in her head,” Apodaca said. “I don’t think she was expecting it to be a war like that. Maybe she was expecting — I mean what was the odds? That’s what she was expecting. I saw it when she walked out. I looked at her face when she was walking out and was like, ‘Oh, she thinks she just has this. For sure.’”
Though she only has five professional MMA fights, Apodaca competed often in the amateur ranks, and at 32 years old, she knows time is ticking on her career.
“I think I’ll be fighting top 10 soon,” Apodaca said. “I am 32, and I knew that taking this fight, it was like an escalated path, and I was ready for that. Because I do believe in my skill. So in a year, that’s where I want to be, fighting top 10.”
But regardless of how soon she gets her crack at the top of the bantamweight division, mostly Apodaca wants people to give her her respect after Tuesday.
“I don’t want to be overlooked anymore,” Apodaca said. “I think I did prove that tonight. I’ve been the underdog the last three fights, I think — which is fine, underdog city — but I think that now people will understand that I’m more of a threat than they thought.”
