Claressa Shields, arguably the greatest female boxer of all time, claims her desire to move to mixed martial arts was sparked by comments made by Amanda Nunes, who many feel is the women’s mixed martial arts GOAT.
Shields (1-1), a multiple-time boxing world champion across three weight classes, lobbied for a boxing match against Nunes several years ago. However, the former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship queen instead invited Shields to an MMA bout, vowing to choke her out. Shields recently said that Nunes’ comments made her realize that MMA fighters fighting her inside the squared circle was a rare possibility. Hence, she decided to try her hand at MMA to prove herself as a true fighter in all aspects.
“I wanted to fight Amanda Nunes in a boxing match and when they asked her if she would fight me she said, ‘tell Claressa Shields to come to my world and I’ll choke the s--- out of her,’” Shields recalled during the PFL vs. Bellator Champions press conference on Wednesday. “When I heard her say that it really lit a fire in me. You know what, none of these girls are going to come over from MMA and fight me because they know I’d win, hands down. But it would be a super challenge for me to go over to MMA, so I just wanted to challenge myself and show that I’m not just badass in boxing, I’m badass fighter, period. So why not come over to MMA and just prove myself. So that’s why I’m here even though a lot of people thought I would just run back to boxing but, hey, here I am. I’m just here to get better and believe in a year or two, I will be fighting for a world title.”
Shields made her MMA debut in the Professional Fighters League in June 2021, scoring a third-round technical knockout win over Brittney Elkins. She then went on to drop a split decision against Abigail Montes later that year and hasn’t competed in MMA since.
Shields is now slated to return to action against Kelsey DeSantis (1-2) on the Professional Fighters League vs. Bellator Champs card that goes down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 24. While PFL gold remains her eventual aim, Shields is now focused on returning to the win column.
“There’s a lot of great talent in the PFL. I just want to do my due diligence and train and just win my fights and hopefully I’ll be as great as these guys up here and be able to fight for the PFL Championship and fight for the million dollars. Right now, it’s one fight at a time and I want to get back on a winning streak as I lost my last fight by split decision. I just want to keep moving forward. Being able to be a woman and fighting in the first pro MMA bout in Saudi Arabia is a big deal for me and my career. I just want to come back and show that boxers can do MMA and that I have the potential to be a PFL World Champion one day.”
DeSantis started her career on a two-fight skid before bouncing back with a first-round KO win in her last outing. The 35-year-old will be making her promotional debut against Shields.
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