Claressa Shields will be officially held at MMA.
After becoming the indisputable “Gwart” of women’s boxing, the Shields felt it was time to conquer another sport. In 2021, she signed with the professional Fighters League and made her promotional debut with the well-balanced Brittany Elkin in June of that year.
Despite some early adversity, the Shields won the ground and pound TKO in the third, wondering if many had witnessed the birth of MMA’s next big female star.
MMA debut
@claressashields He won his third TKO victory #2021pfl4 pic.twitter.com/u1dzzskctq
– ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 11, 2021
Shields’ momentum was a bit of a hit with the sophomore appearance, dropping the split decision to Abby Montes later that same year, but she won over Kelsey Desantis in the PFL vs. Bellator event in February 2024.
Claressa Shields doesn’t have enough time for MMA
Since then, the Shields have focused on their boxing careers, winning the uncontroversial heavyweight championship in February, becoming the male or female, the non-controversial champions of the first three divisions of boxing. She puts heavyweight gold on the line against Rani Daniels this July, making many wonder if one day she’ll have her 4oz gloves again.
Check out this post on InstagramWell, we now know the courtesy of “gwoat” itself.
“The MMA is finished,” Shields said when he appeared on Ariel Helwanishaw. “It was fun, but I don’t have enough time to train, and it takes six to eight months to prepare to defend the takedown.
“It takes a lot of time to train for MMA. I don’t have it. I had a desire to become a world champion at PFLMMA and fight against Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco. I had a dream and aspirations one day, but I already had no great time in boxing. It’s too difficult.
“My family didn’t want to do it to me. I did it because I wanted to prove the points. And I proved that point to myself three times. I won twice so I could say it twice, but I could enter a new relationship and he couldn’t even handle my boxing. He said, “Can’t handle the MMA,” he said, “Don’t do that anymore?” I was like “It’s okay.” ”