Claressa Shields will be competing in MMA again — provided things go to plan.
Shields hasn’t competed in MMA since a split decision defeat to Abigail Montes back in October 2021 under the PFL banner.
It was notably the second pro MMA fight of Shields’ career as she went 1-1 in the process.
The Olympian has since returned to the boxing ring with a unanimous decision win over Ema Kozin in February. Her next title fight will be against Savannah Marshall which takes place September 10 in London.
Should she come out with the win as expected and remain undefeated, she will be back in MMA soon after for the PFL Finals.
“I’ll fight in November MMA, the PFL finals,” Shields told MMA Junkie. “I’ll be fighting, I believe, in the co-main event, which I don’t want to. I keep telling them that, but they just expect so much out of me.
“I win my fight Sept. 10, I take about a week off, and then I actually come back down here (in South Florida). I’ve been thinking about doing some training at ATT or trying to see if Henry Cejudo can come down here, and we do some training over here. We always have other fights and other bags to collect.”
Claressa Shields: MMA Cuts Checks More Than Boxing
One might wonder why Shields is returning to MMA in the first place. After all, her first two fights were far from easy and they weren’t steep competition either.
The reality, however, is that MMA is providing her more opportunities and money than boxing currently does.
So until things change, expect Shields to continue venturing into this new world.
“I got so many fans from doing MMA,” Shields said. “I got endorsements, I got sponsors, I got movie deals, I got a lot from just two fights in MMA. It’s sad because I’m way better in boxing than MMA, but boxing needs to give the same opportunities to women, because if we’re being honest, in boxing I should be getting endorsements, sponsorships, the movie deals, magazine covers.
“Boxing should be giving those opportunities to women, but they’re not. But in MMA, they’re going to cut the checks.”
What do you think of Claressa Shields returning to MMA?
