Valor Fights

Valor Fights 32: Shamir Peshewa explains transition from roller derby to mixed martial arts fighter

Coming up tonight in Knoxville, Tennessee will be Valor Fights 32 and the preliminary card will see Shamir Peshewa looking for her fourth career amateur victory as she meets Erica Fincher in a bantamweight bout.

Peshewa (3-2) started her amateur career back in 2014 and opened up with three straight victories. Since those victories, she has dropped back to back fights and will look to snap her losing streak against Fincher. During yesterday’s “The MMA Report Podcast,” Peshewa was a guest on the show to preview her fight and explained how she made the transition to MMA from roller derby.

“Well they are both combat sports,” Peshewa said. “Full contact of course. A lot of people think roller derby like old school roller derby. This is more like hockey with roller skates. I played roller derby for seven years for the Hard Knox Rollergirls in Knoxville, Tennessee. Originally went to KMMA, which is the gym I train at to get cross training for a big tournament we had coming up. I always liked MMA but after training, I just fell in love with it.”

Check out Peshewa’s complete interview from Thursday’s episode of “The MMA Report Podcast” below and be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Stitcher.