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.
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“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.