Shutterstock
Boxing champion Claressa Shields is making the move to mixed martial arts.
The 25-year-old Shields is one of the most accomplished women’s boxers in history and she’ll now be making the move to a new sport after signing with the Professional Fighters League, according to MMAjunkie.com.
It is a multi-fight deal.
According to ESPN, Shields plans to fight twice in 2021 as standalone bouts before competing in a PFL tournament in 2022.
“I wanted to test myself,” Shields said. “I want to see if I can be a world champion in boxing and a world champion in MMA. That’s something I want to test myself on. I’m not saying boxing is easy, but I’ve been on top of the world for almost 14 years now.
“I’m not coming to MMA to lose. The next time they see me in the cage, I’m gonna have muscles coming out my damn neck training so hard to win.”
As an amateur boxer, Shields was 77-1. She is 10-0 as a pro.
New PFL athlete @ClaressaShields spoke last year about a move to MMA and the adjustments she'd need to make.
"If they put me in 4oz gloves, they'll be calling me Muhammad Ali."
More on her signing: https://t.co/uetKZ4Hl2D pic.twitter.com/PzE0Qw0fDr
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) December 1, 2020
Shields last fought in January where she steamrolled Ivana Habazin to claim the WBC and WBA junior middleweight titles.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist is one of only eight boxers in history, male or female, to hold all four major world titles in boxing — WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO — simultaneously.
