‘If I can make it out, you can too,’ says Dyer before UFC fight

Shanelle Dyer, a 25-year-old mixed martial artist from a west London housing estate affected by knife crime, fights American Elise Reed in a strawweight bout in Las Vegas on Saturday, having stunned the UFC with a second-round knockout win on her debut in March. Dyer credits her parents' encouragement to play sport with keeping her off a path she believes could otherwise have led to violence, and says her rise to the UFC shows young people from troubled areas that there is a way out through finding "their niche," whether in sport, music or business.

Dyer, who fights under the nickname "The Nightmare" in tribute to her late friend and mentor Jahreau Shepherd, who was fatally stabbed in 2020, has won seven of her eight professional fights, five by knockout. Her UFC debut victory earned her a $100,000 (£73,000) performance-of-the-night bonus, which she is using to fund her family's first trip together, to Paris. The interview comes as police figures show knife-related killings in England and Wales fell by 21% last year, with the Metropolitan Police recording 28% of all knife offences despite a 17% drop in its own area.