DWCS 89 winner plans to keep accounting Job despite securing UFC contract
DWCS 89 winner revealed plans to keep the accounting job despite earning a UFC contract after pulling a historic upset that left fans stunned.
Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) season 10, week 3, concluded on Tuesday Night at Meta Apex in Las Vegas, and all five winners earned UFC contracts.
Earning a UFC contract remains the dream of almost every MMA fighter, as it allows them to pursue a full-time career at the highest level. However, one of Tuesday night's winners expressed that earning the contract does not mean she is ready to leave her day job behind.
That fighter is Alex Apodaca, who pulled off a massive upset against Bella Mir in the bantamweight main event of DWCS 89.
Alex Apodaca refuses to quit accounting job despite earning UFC contract at DWCS 89
Mir is the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and was a heavy betting favorite at -6110 against Apodaca. The highest betting favorite in DWCS history, she is an NCAA national champion wrestler and an accomplished grappler.
That said, Mir lacked experience, having just four fights entering the bout. Apodaca capitalized on that shut-down ‘Lady’ wrestling game and outworked her over three rounds to pull off the biggest upset in MMA and secured a unanimous decision victory.
The victory earned her a UFC contract and seemingly opened the door to a full-time fight career.
However, in the post-event presser, Apodaca revealed that she enjoys her accounting profession, praised her coworkers for supporting her, and intends to keep it balanced with her MMA career.
"I don't think I'm going to quit. I like using my brain. ... I have a call at 7:30 a.m.”Apodaca revealed
Check out Alex Apodaca’s comments below via MMA Junkie:
Some fighters have multiple professions that they are as passionate about as fighting inside the octagon. Stipe Miocic can be considered a prime example of that during his title reign. Despite being the UFC heavyweight champion, he also worked as a firefighter and paramedic. While some fighters, despite being in UFC, have to work multiple jobs simply to make a living, UFC CEO Dana White has received heavy criticism for that, and often gets called out for the fighters' pay.
While Apodaca is determined to balance her career with fighting, her performance against Mir also earned praise from White for one reason in particular.
Dana White praises Alex Apodaca for surviving deep waters against Bella Mir at DWCS 89
Speaking after DWCS 89, White believes that Apodaca’s ability to handle adversity has given her the edge to get the victory.
“And again, like I said out there, Bisping absolutely nailed it and said the difference in this fight is deep water. Bella’s never been there, and Alex has,” White said.
White also highlighted the nature of the sport and asserted that Mir lacked the experience to face adversity, and she does now.
“Like Bisping said, she didn’t have deep water experience, and now she does,” White said. “She didn’t fold, she didn’t get stopped, she didn’t quit. This is all part of the game. To come in and just go undefeated, it’s very hard to do in this sport,” White concluded.
Check out Dana White's comments below:
