Rachel Wray, a former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader, is now trading in her pom-poms for gloves and a mouthpiece. Wray had been a cheerleader and dancer her whole life, but gained an interest in mixed martial arts after – as she puts it – an “alternative workout.”
Wray told Kansas City MMA about how she got into the sport.
Last year, I was a Chiefs Cheerleader. I have been a cheerleader or dancer my whole life and I moved here from arkansas to Cheer for the Kansas City Chiefs. I started working out at Title Boxing Club with some of the girls for an alternative workout. I really enjoyed it and started taking private lessons after a little while. One day,. I came in and they wanted me to spar. I was nervous about someone actually punching me in the face, but I did it.
I was absolutely horrible. This drove me to want it even more. I knew I had to make a choice between fighting and cheerleading. I chose fighting. I trained harder and took more private lessons. In the same shopping center was HDMMA and I wandered in there to see what was going on. Everyone was so nice and just not what I expected from a MMA gym. So, I started training there too. One thing led to another, and now I feel comfortable enough to compete in the cage.
While Ray is nowhere near the beast that is Rhonda Rousey, she did win her first two fights (videos below). Wray’s next fight is scheduled for January at Harrah’s in Kansas City.
