One of the most successful boxers to ever transition to mixed martial arts has called time on her experiment.
Claressa Shields, the undefeated five-weight boxing world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, confirmed this week that she will abandon her mixed martial arts training and concentrate her energy on her record-breaking boxing career.
Shields, 30, competed in three professional mixed martial arts bouts under the banner of the PFL – winning two and losing one, with the final fight coming in February of last year where she defeated Kelsey DeSantis by split decision as part of the PFL vs. Bellator card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
And speaking to Ariel Helwani, Shields said that while she thoroughly enjoyed her time in a second combat sport, it just took too much time to prepare adequately for a fight.
“MMA is done,” Shields said, as noted by Lowkick. “It was fun, but I don’t have enough time to train for it. It takes six to eight months just to get ready to defend takedowns. Even though I got a lot better and put in the time, I broke my arm twice. It was fun, and I enjoyed every fight I did.
“It takes a lot of time to train for MMA — time that I don’t have. I had aspirations of becoming a PFL MMA world champion and fighting Kayla Harrison or Larissa Pacheco one day. I had those dreams and aspirations, but I just don’t have enough time.
She added: “I’m already great in boxing, and to be great like that in MMA, I would have to train consistently for at least three to four years. I did really well in MMA. It was fun, but it was too hard.
“My family never wanted me to do it. I did it because I wanted to prove a point, and I proved that point — to myself three times; though you could say twice because I won twice. I got into a new relationship, and he can’t even handle me boxing. We had a talk, and he was like, ‘I cannot handle MMA.’ He said, ‘Can you please not do that anymore?’ I was like, ‘Okay.’”
Shields is scheduled to defend her undisputed boxing heavyweight title against the 11-2 Lani Daniels in late July.
