Claressa Shields has signed with the PFL according to a report from MMA Junkie. The promotion has yet to make the news officials but the former two-time Olympic gold medalist in boxing seems set to start an MMA career.
Shields will not compete in the 2021 season but will take one-off fights at lightweight according to the report. Shields, 25, will continue her boxing career and compete in MMA in 2021. Rumors swirled earlier this fall that she was slated to be on a card that was promoted by Zuffa Boxing. However, the rumors of Dana White’s startup boxing promotion never came to fruition.
Shields won a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics at middleweight in women’s boxing. She is 10-0 professionally and holds multiple boxing titles. Her last boxing fight was last January as she won the WBC and WBO light middleweight titles.
Payout Perspective:
Shields is beginning to train in MMA and while MMA fighters have stepped into boxing, few boxers have competed in MMA. The most notable boxer to crossover was James Toney in his ill-fated Octagon debut against Randy Couture. Shields, who has no martial arts training will have issues grappling if and when she decides to step into the MMA cage. Yet, she will be a fascinating story to watch as she attempts to gain a broader audience by competing in MMA.
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