Rachel Wray, a former NFL cheerleader, has swapped pom poms to be an official Mixed Martial Arts fighter. Wray has left the cheerleading squad for the Kansas City Chiefs to join the MMA, according to The Bleacher Report.

The Arkansas native has been a dancer her entire life and had moved to Kansas City to join the NFL cheerleading team. She had started to take private MMA lessons at a local gym and decided to make a career out of fighting because she enjoyed the workout so much.

 "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,"  she said in an interview with CagePotato.com. "I chose fighting. I trained harder and took more private lessons."

Wray has been training at Jason HIgh and LC Davis' HDMMA gym in Kansas City two hours a day, five nights a week. 

Not everyone is happy with Wray's career path. "Mom hates it and Dad loves it.  My mom just doesn't understand it.  She will be there at my first fight, but I think she is really nervous." Wray said in an interview with KCMMA.com

She continued : "Everyone says 'I would never expect you to be a fighter. Being a cheerleader fits you more,' or 'Why would you give up cheerleading to roll around with sweaty boys?. Well, I have never enjoyed working out so much in my life. I love fighting and am having so much fun with it.  I want to be an inspiration to other girls out there that want to fight but don't think they can."

Wray has won her amateur debut with a second round TKO. She is scheduled to fight next on January 25 at Harrah's Casino in Kansas City.