Claressa Shields decided to switch sports and try out MMA, as she was disgruntled with the treatment she received as a female boxer. In an interview, she revealed that she thought boxing was sexist. Despite being the top pound-for-pound women’s fighter, opportunities were scarce for her.
‘T-Rex’ therefore decided to switch over to MMA and signed with the PFL. Shields will make her debut early next year and will take it one fight at a time as opposed to participating in a regular season of PFL. She aims to participate in a season in 2022 once she has a bit more experience in MMA.
Read: Claressa Shields thrilled after a BJJ session
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Claressa Shields details the positive response from the MMA community
In a recent interview, a reporter asked Claressa how the reception has been from the MMA community with regards to her move to the PFL.
Shields replied, “Yeah, I just feel like it’s just no secret. I’ve gained over 22-23,000 followers via social media and on you know just Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Like all my numbers have went up. I think I’ve been trending on Twitter, I’ve been trending on google for the past three days.”‘T-Rex’ continued, “Just the support the MMA world has been giving me by transitioning over, there are some haters for sure. But it’s been more people giving me support…. I get the support in boxing too but the opportunities are not there”
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JacksonWink MMA Academy is one of if not the best MMA academy in the United States right now. It houses world-class champions both past and present, namely Jon Jones and Holly Holm, among others.
Under Mike Winkeljohn and Greg Jackson, Claressa will surely grasp the sport a lot better and in the process become a better fighter. Plus, the knowledge gained from being in the same camp as the likes of Jon Jones and Holly Holm can not be undermined.
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Are you excited to see Claressa make her MMA debut? Let us know in the comments below!