Undisputed light middleweight boxing champion Claressa Shields, who recently improved her pro MMA record to 2-1, says she finds it satisfying to prove doubters wrong, noting that she has more skeptics in MMA than in boxing, and believes she has the potential to be an MMA champion.
Claressa Shields is no stranger to the spotlight. She’s been in the thick of combat sports for a while now. But she’s noticed a stark contrast between the fan bases of boxing and MMA.
Shields, the undisputed light middleweight boxing champ, recently upped her pro MMA record to 2-1. She did this with a hard-fought split decision win over Kelsey DeSantis. The fight was at PFL vs. Bellator in Saudi Arabia.
The MMA community has cast some doubt on her future in the sport. So, winning on such a big stage was a satisfying moment. Mainly because it silenced her doubters.
“If I was just a regular old Joe, not athletic, not really a true fighter, MMA wouldn’t exist for me,” Shields shared on The MMA Hour. She’s a real fighter. She loves the art of war. She’s willing to put in hard work. That’s how she won the fight.
She put in a lot of hard work for this fight. Her opponent was a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. Shields knew going in there with her was a risk. But she worked on her weaknesses.
Winning in MMA is fulfilling for Shields. It’s also funny to her. She feels like she has more doubters in MMA than in boxing. In boxing, nobody doubts her. There are a few haters, but no one can stand up to her.
But in MMA, people get excited at the idea of someone beating her. When she wins, it makes them mad. It’s very satisfying to her. “You doubted me, you’re mad, you suck,” she says.
Shields made her MMA debut with a third-round TKO win over Brittney Elkin at PFL 4 in June 2021. She then lost a split decision to Abby Montes at PFL 10 four months later.
Getting her first MMA victory was satisfying. But now, she’s been in the cage three times and hasn’t been blown out. She knows she has a future in MMA.
“MMA is just different,” Shields explained. She finds comfort in not being the greatest in MMA. She knows that her wins will always surprise people.
She initially took up MMA to prove that boxers can do it too. She wanted to win a fight. And she did, with a third-round knockout against Brittney Elkin.
Then she fought Abby and lost a split decision. But she wondered why these girls with more ground game and experience weren’t submitting her. The answer, she realized, was because she has the potential to be an MMA champion.