“If Danielle don’t keep her hands up, she’s gonna get put on her back pockets.” Claressa Shields was full of confidence before her fight against Danielle Perkins on Feb 3. As expected the 29-year-old extended her undefeated record with a unanimous win over Perkins. The self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Woman of All Time‘ even said that she would beat Jake Paul as well if any male-female format were to exist. Talk about the confidence! But while a clash with the Problem Child seems far-fetched, Shields might soon find herself facing an even bigger challenge—this time, from a rising powerhouse in the UFC.

MMA Hall of Famer and former UFC champ, Cris Cyborg, who has collected belts from a plethora of MMA promotions like UFC, Bellator, and PFL, has revealed that she is now ready to dip her toes in boxing as well. You see, Shields and Cyborg were once training partners, but their relationship has since deteriorated.

Just three months back, Cyborg challenged Claressa to a cage fight. “I’m 10 years older and 30 pounds lighter but I will beat the breaks off the “GWOAT”: Goofiest Women of All Time in a real fight. My last fight was 145lbs. I will fight her inside the @PFLMMA cage at an open fight. Just sign the contract,” Cyborg said. However, Shields never fell into Cyborg’s traps as she knows her strength. “If she want to fight in boxing! Come on with it!” the 29-year-old fired back. It seemed like a dream matchup that would never happen—until Cyborg’s latest move suddenly reignited the possibility.

With Cyborg now open to stepping inside the ring for a professional fight, Claressa Shields seems like a great fight to make. “Now that I’ve got all the belts in MMA maybe it’s time I start adding some from Boxing…fight news coming this week,” Cris Cyborg wrote on X earlier today. It’s currently unclear who Cyborg’s opponent will be, but a fight against Shields would be the biggest draw considering the long-running feud.

In case Shields agrees to the fight, both boxers will have to come up with a weight class they are both comfortable with, especially since Shields is currently in the heavyweight division and Cyborg mostly fights at featherweight. But, maybe the two can fight at middleweight. 

The good news is that Claressa Shields has previously expressed interest in Cyborg after a call out from the Brazilian. 

Claressa Shields distances herself from MMA fight with Cris Cyborg but is open to a boxing match

During a December 2024 interview with Pound4Pound, Claressa Shields shut down any possibility of facing Cris Cyborg in an MMA fight but remains open to a boxing match against the former UFC women’s featherweight champion. Shields believes Cyborg is only calling her out for attention. “She wants the clout,” Shields said. “Ain’t nobody paying attention to no Cris Cyborg no more. She’s old, and I’m new. I’m popping right now.”

While Shields briefly competed in MMA, she acknowledges Cyborg’s experience, which gives her an overwhelming advantage inside the cage. “No, I’m not going to fight Cris Cyborg in MMA,” Shields said. “She’s got too much experience. I don’t have enough time to learn it.” However, in boxing, Shields is more than willing to fight.

“Boxing is a more fair sport. How is it more fair? In boxing, you’ve got your left and your right. In MMA, she’s got her left, her right, her elbows, her knees, her kicks, the ground game. All her experience in MMA, versus me who, I’ve only been doing MMA a year and a half, two years,” Shields added.

That said, while Cris Cyborg hasn’t explicitly called out Claressa Shields, both are running out of opponents and a fight between them could be on the horizon pretty soon. What do you think? Would you want to see the fight?