After being arrested and accused of committing a number of serious crimes in April of 2011, Kasheem “The Dream” Peterson thought—if only for a minute—that he was having a nightmare.
“I definitely would’ve loved for someone to pinch me and wake me up,” Peterson, 29, recently explained to Bleacher Report with a slight laugh. “It was definitely a nightmare.”
Of course, as it turned out, “The Dream,” who was in London, Ontario helping his trainer, the late Shawn Tompkins, prepare Mark Hominick for an upcoming match, wasn’t dreaming at all.
“I can’t give too many details on what happened, but, basically, I went out with friends of mine,” Peterson recounted. “From there, we went to a couple of nightclubs. We went to an after-hours spot that was, basically, a bar that was hosting a couple of friends...I was introduced to a young lady, met her, spoke with her and we, basically, established a mutual attraction for each other.”
“From there, I asked if she was okay with hanging out, we talked about hanging out and flirted more and more...From there, we decided to meet when we leave the bar later on that night. We went to my place. From my place, we go to a parking lot and we engage in consensual sexual activity, in which she was trying to entice me, or ask me to be more, I would say, aggressive than I normally would’ve been...I wasn’t able to perform that night and my inability to perform, I guess, frustrated her. She took me home, dropped me off and, from there, I went to bed.”
Within a few days, a number of Canadian police officers paid Peterson an unexpected visit.
Peterson—in the middle of a seminar at Tomkins’ Adrenaline MMA academy—was shortly thereafter arrested and detained by the Canadian authorities. Peterson was faced with sexual assault, forcible confinement and choking someone with the intent of committing sexual assault charges.
Despite his maintained innocence, Peterson soon realized his legal troubles may not be resolved as quickly as he first anticipated.
“I thought it was just a simple mistake, but they started reading me the details of the charges and I was like, ‘Oh, wow, wow,’” Peterson recounted. “They denied my bail, immigration came to talk to me and also the American consulate came to talk to me. That’s when I thought that this was serious. I saw my face on the news—I didn’t actually see it, because they kept me confined—but I was told that I was in the news for several days. It was on the front page of the paper.”
For the next eight-and-a-half months—from early-April to mid-December—Peterson was confined in protective custody at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London.
Once in custody, Peterson was determined to make the most of his time.
Committed to one day returning to the canvas, Peterson—in a regimen that would make Angus MacGyver proud—made the most out of his humble surroundings.
“I worked out a lot,” Peterson, who notched four victories in his first six outings as a professional mixed martial artist, said with a laugh. “I got up to about 2,400 push-ups a day. I was doing pull-ups, too. I had various other ways of working out. I would have milk bags and I would empty out those bags, fill them up with water, tie them up, put them in a t-shirt. I would fill the t-shirt with about 100 milk bags and I would work out with the milk bags.”
“I would make focus-mitts by putting tissue in a sock. I would tie up my mattress and make a heavy-bag out of it.”
According to Peterson, he was determined to better prepare himself for life outside of the cage upon his release, too.
“I focused on trying to get better in my sport,” Peterson noted. “But more importantly, I sought more balance, mentally. I used to speak to a psychologist up there. He sat me down and spoke to me about certain things.”
“We always stayed positive and stayed focused on me getting out of there. We sat down and we devised an exit-plan. In that exit-plan, I came up with a list of things that I wanted to do—that I needed to do, that I must do—to become a positive influence on society.”
Although Peterson, who has been acquitted of all charges, worked hard to make the most of his time in custody, his stint in the Canadian penal system wasn’t without its troubles.
Within a few weeks of his stay in protective custody, locked up with “extreme head cases,” Peterson learnt that one of his cousins in the United States had passed away.
To make matters worse, Tompkins, who admittedly played a “huge role” in Peterson’s life—both in and out of the gym—unexpectedly passed away in mid-August.
“I have a friend up in Canada—she lives in Winnipeg—and she phoned the chaplain,” Peterson explained. “The chaplain said that she already knew and that she was on her way to come speak with me. I was wondering what she was going to say to me now. I’m thinking that she was calling me down to make a phone call. She called me down and asked me to take a seat. I didn’t know why she was telling me to take a seat—I didn’t make a request to call the chaplain for a prayer or anything like that—and she told me. She handed me two printouts of the article.”
Although Tompkins publicly condemned Peterson via his personal Facebook page and through the media a day or two after news of the incident broke—a move Peterson can appreciate at this point, but didn’t at the time—Peterson was, not-surprisingly, hurt by his mentor’s passing.
Despite the fact that the passing of his mentor could’ve proved damaging to Peterson, he emphasized that, in many ways, Tompkin’s passing made him stronger and more determined to someday return to society and display the skills that his teacher had passed down.
Now released from custody and living in Las Vegas, Peterson is determined to return to professional mixed martial arts competition in the coming year.
“Speaking to my mentor (Kevin Randleman) and speaking to certain people, I think we’re looking at getting back to action in March or April,” Peterson said. “We’re not going to put a date on it right now. To be honest with you, I would love to fight tonight.”
According to Peterson, a fulfilling career—despite eight-or-so months of “creative” training—is still within his reach.
“In 2012, I would love to be the welterweight champion on any organization that I’m in,” Peterson said. “I want to get the attention of the UFC. In 2012, I’m definitely campaigning. I have a lot of lobbying to do, but I’m going to do whatever is necessary and I’m going to win.”
“I feel that I can go very far in this sport. There are a lot of opportunities in this sport and I feel that I have a lot of potential.”
Again, more importantly, now that he is a free man, Peterson is determined to make a profound influence outside of the cage.
“My plan—once I get on my feet—is that I’m going to do a lot of volunteer work,” said Peterson, who holds an Associate of Arts degree with a background in Criminal Justice and another in Political Science. “I plan on volunteering with animal shelters to help those animals. I’m going to try and volunteer with the youth, as well—volunteer with children. I’m trying to help with battered women, too.”
“I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, but I want to give back to the community and give back to society.”
“I feel that I have a lot to prove to people—who I am and what I’m about—so I want to show people who I really am.”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1005074-kasheem-the-dream-peterson-out-of-custody-and-ready-to-make-an-impact
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