New UFC signing Shanelle Dyer speaks with Fighters Only’s Paul Browne about her Contender Series battle, the lessons she learned from her first professional loss, and her ambitious plans for the future in the strawweight division.
Weathering the Storm
Success inside the Octagon requires more than just toughness — but the ability to absorb damage and stay in the fight is nothing to be underestimated.
Shanelle Dyer (6-1) was forced to dig deep as her durability was tested during the biggest fight of her life. When she stepped into the cage to face Carol Foro (9-1) on Dana White’s Contender Series last month, the UK standout could hardly have imagined a worse start to her dream opportunity.
Dyer was sent crashing to the canvas multiple times during a brutal opening round, as her hard-hitting Brazilian opponent waded forward relentlessly, showcasing the kind of power rarely seen in the women’s strawweight division.
“Oh, she hit so hard!” Dyer laughs. “Oh my days! I hit her so hard as well, and she was like, no emotions; she was having a poker face. She was game as hell. Obviously, you have to be game in Contender Series. If you win the fight, you get to UFC. So everyone that goes in Contender Series is going to be game as f**k, and we both were.”
Muay Thai Grit Pays Off
A youth spent honing her craft in the world of Muay Thai served Dyer well, allowing her to weather the storm before delivering an exceptional striking display for the remainder of the fight. Although she fell short on the judges’ scorecards, her performance was enough to earn her a UFC contract.
While UFC President Dana White waxed lyrical about her performance during the closing segment of the show, Dyer remained blissfully unaware of his praise, as she was undergoing treatment for her battle wounds at a nearby hospital.
“Yeah, I wasn't watching it,” she recalls. “I didn't know that I was signed until an hour or so after my fight. So imagine, like, obviously, I lost the fight, I was absolutely devastated. My mind didn't want to process it. And obviously, I was getting stitches. Everyone was saying what a great fight that was. But all my mind was saying to me was that I missed my chance, I'm not a UFC fighter, I don't have the contract.
“And it was basically the end of the world for me. I got shipped off to the hospital, I had to get CT scans, obviously routine checks and stuff, get stitches. And then an hour or so passed. And then I looked down on my phone and then my coach Christian Norris, he was at the fight. He messaged me. He was like, ‘I think you got the contract!’ I was like, ‘what?’ And he was like, ‘yeah, I think you got the contract!’ I looked at my coach Barry and he was having the most serious conversation ever on the phone. I just stared at him and he looked back at me and was like, ‘you got the contract.’ And I just started bursting out crying. I was like, I was so happy, man.
“I was so happy that when I got that news, because that's what my goal was: to be a UFC fighter. And obviously, I dropped the decision, but the goal was to be a UFC fighter, and I fulfilled that goal.”
A Bright Future Ahead
The loss was the first of Dyer’s professional career, but it signals the beginning of a new era for the Londoner. Now that the door to the big leagues has firmly been kicked in, she can begin making plans for the future. And for Dyer, the future is looking extremely promising.
“I'm still young,” she says. “I'm only 24 years old, turn 25 next year. I'm going to take my time. I still have years left in this game, years left of learning fighting as well. Because for me, I want to be the UFC strawweight world champion. And when I get that belt, I'm not losing that. So when I do fight for that belt, I'm a million percent going to win that. And I'm going to defend it until I retire when I'm like 34, 35, 36. So I have like what 12, 13 years left in this game. So I'm going to take my time, make sure I'm the best fighter I can 100?. So when I'm taking that title, that title is mine for good.”
