Despite losing in her last MMA fight, undefeated boxing fighter Claressa Shields is still determined to pursue the MMA path under PFL. According to the female fighter, fans can expect her next MMA fight in February or April 2024.
Shields is an icon in the boxing world, which is made possible by her achievements in the sport, including formerly holding multiple world championships in three weight classes: light middleweight, middleweight, and the unified WBC and IBF female super middleweight. Despite this, PFL’s pound-for-pound women’s boxer also wants to excel beyond the ring. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Shields expressed confidence in becoming a PFL MMA champ in the future and “the best fighter in the world.”
“I love fighting,” Shields said. “I don’t like the fact that I have to say, ‘There’s other girls in MMA that can beat me.’ That kind of angers me a little bit, like, ‘Ugh, she can beat me in a fight because she knows more of the things that I don’t know. But she can’t beat me in a boxing match.’ But I want to be the best fighter in the world. It doesn’t matter if it’s MMA or if it’s kickboxing or it’s boxing. I want to be the best.
“I would like to become PFL champion. I believe that is doable. I believe that it’s possible for me. Give me some years of training of just me making MMA a priority. I believe that I can be a PFL and boxing world champion at the same time. I know it’s big, but I feel like it’s achievable, 100 percent, for me.”
In line with this, the fighter shared that fans might see her again in the PFL cage by the first quarter of 2024.
“It’s looking like February or maybe April,” Shields said. “I’ve been training MMA with Murcielago Team in Lansing (Mich.) for the past few months, and I’ll continue training with them. I’ve been learning a lot. … I’m getting stronger in those fields that I’m not strong. I can’t say I’m strong on the ground, but I will be. I’m stronger than I was, so I’m just going to keep building from there.
“I’ve just been grinding and working hard, so I believe February or April you’ll see me back in the PFL SmartCage.”
It is unknown who will be Shields’ next opponent, but the boxer had talks with Bellator fighter Cris Cyborg in the past. However, the two didn’t reach an agreement, and the conversation turned into trash talk instead. Fans, nonetheless, can still expect the fight to happen in the future, especially now that Bellator is under PFL and the latter is trying to arrange some ground-breaking bouts.
