Shanelle Dyer’s parents always encouraged her to play sports because they were worried about what the alternative could be.
In March, the Londoner introduced herself on the world stage as she knocked out Ravena Oliveira in stunning fashion in the second round on her UFC debut.
The performance follows the best part of a decade in sport, with Dyer eventually finding her home in mixed martial arts after trying ballet, gymnastics and football.
She grew up on a housing estate in west London which was troubled by knife crime and Dyer, now 25, believes she could have gone “down the wrong path” if not for her parents’ encouragement.
“Some of it was difficult, especially when you go to school and you find out people in your class got stabbed – some people actually died from my neighbourhood,” Dyer told BBC Sport.
“That’s heartbreaking because we grew up in the same place, and that could have been me if I went down the wrong path.
“It just happened my parents and family and people around me put me on a great path. It just motivated me, I didn’t want to be in that situation, I wanted to be in a better situation.”
In 2020, Dyer lost her friend and MMA mentor Jahreau Shepherd when he was stabbed to death by his brother at his 30th birthday party.
Dyer was at the party, but left an hour before the incident happened.
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Dyer’s nickname “The Nightmare” will be read out by announcer Bruce Buffer before her strawweight bout against American Elise Reed – an alias she adopted from Shepherd to help keep his memory alive.
“We had the same dream. I remember talking about how we were going to be UFC fighters, UFC champions, walk out to big crowds, that was our dream,” said Dyer.
“He didn’t get to live out his dream but I can so I’m gonna take him with me.
“Jay is always with me. In my corner, every morning if I don’t want to go training I can hear ‘get up, you get to live your life – do it’. He’s always in the back of my mind.”
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