What is Claressa Shields' MMA debut date?
Claressa Shields is one of the greatest female boxers of all time. The American recently announced a move over to MMA in 2020, but she won't retire from boxing. She is the only boxer in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles in boxing—WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO—simultaneously, in two weight classes. Claressa Shields will make her MMA debut on Thursday, June 10.
She is fighting Brittney Elkin in her PFL debut. The match is a lightweight bout taking place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The fight is the main event of the 2021 PFL 4 fight card, and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis features in the co-main event.
Being a boxer, she's likely to face some problems against Elkin and her Jiu-Jitsu skills. However, Claressa Shields has been training at Jackson Wink MMA for seven months now with the likes of Holly Holm and Jon 'Bones' Jones. This seven-month-long training camp would have surely helped her build up her ground game.
Shields has no problem with a fight on the feet as she is an elite-level boxer. Aside from her professional record of 11-0, she has also won two Olympic gold medals at middleweight along with two women's amateur boxing world championship gold medals.
Also read: 'Jesus, what am I doing here?' - Claressa Shields shares experience of first day of training with Jon Jones at Jackson Wink academy
Claressa Shields says Brittney Elkin is not a serious fighter
There was a lot of trash-talking between the two fighters, and tensions were high during the pre-fight press conference. Elkins said she'd finish in the second round, which did not sit well with Shields.
Claressa Shields fired back and said that Elkin was going to lose this fight. She also added:
"I’ve put in a whole lot of time, and I didn’t come to the PFL just to have my beautiful record in boxing, and all my accomplishments derailed by somebody who is not even really a serious fighter."
Watch the entire pre-fight press conference here: