Boxing star Claressa Shields recently disclosed her career plans saying she doesn’t see a future in MMA.
Shields made her MMA debut in 2021 after signing a contract with the PFL in 2020. She faced Brittany Elkin in her debut and won, but suffered a loss in her next fight against Abigail Montes. The fighter took a long hiatus from the cage and returned last year for her final fight with Kelsey DeSantis.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Shields revealed she will not compete in MMA again. She claimed that the PFL offered her the opportunity to fight one more time, but she decided to turn it down.
“I was offered one more fight with the PFL, and it would have been against a girl who was probably on my level,” she said.
“MMA is done, sweetheart,” she added. “I don’t have enough time to train for it. It takes six months, eight months to just get ready to defend takedowns. I got a lot better, I put in time, I got my arm broken twice. It was fun, and I enjoyed every fight. I did.”
“My family never wanted me to do it,” she said. “I did it because I wanted to prove a point, and I proved that point.
“I got in my new relationship, and he can’t even handle me boxing. He’s going crazy when I’m fighting, even when I’m dominating. We had a talk, and he was like, ‘I cannot handle MMA.’ He was like, ‘Can you please not do that anymore?’ I was like, ‘OK.’”
“I did have aspirations to become PFL MMA world champion and to have a fight with Kayla Harrison one day, or Larissa Pacheco,” she said. “I did have those dreams, I did have those aspirations, but just not enough time. I’m great already in boxing. To be that great in MMA, I would need to train at least three, four years consistently.”
Although the fighter plans to leave MMA, she’s not done with the combat sports world. In an interview with Local 4, the
“GWOAT” discussed her future plans in boxing. She disclosed that, despite her desire to maintain her relationships, she plans to fight three times a year.
“Honestly, I want to fight three times this year because I’ve wanted to fight three times for the past three, four years—three times a year—and I haven’t been able to. I’ve only been able to fight one time every year, and I want to give my fans something to look forward to. So, to be able to fight twice is great, but to be able to fight three times is even better. I feel like I’m in great shape.”
