Claressa Shields has yet to make her MMA debut yet, but she expects to be treated like a queen by fans of the sport.
There are many boxers who have talked about fighting mixed martial artists, but those requests are almost always for a boxing match. And any discussion about the boxer making the move to MMA seldom gains any traction at all.
Then enter Claressa Shields. Claressa Shields is a world champion boxer who has won two Olympic gold medals. She has reached the pinnacle of her sport. So when she was talking up potentially fighting Amanda Nunes in MMA, it would be natural to think that Shields would be like all the others and stay in the realm where she has already been dominant and for all the talks of her competing in an MMA fight to dissipate. Fast forward to last week, and Claressa Shields signed with the Professional Fighters League. Shields accredits this decision to two factors: timing and opportunity.
“People wondered if I’d really do [MMA], and I always said it had to be the right opportunity and the right conversation,” Shields told The Bleacher report. “The right conversation is giving me the chance to actually train, get ready and learn to [the point] where, when it’s time for me to get into the ring with an elite MMA fighter, I’m ready.”
If there was any doubt as to how seriously Shields is taking the transition, one needs to only check out Jon Jones’s social media pages, where we can see that he is already helping to train Shields at Jackson Wink MMA. Shields also says that she is taking yoga classes to improve her flexibility in order to throw better kicks. So now that it’s clear that Claressa Shields is officially an MMA fighter, she expects the fanbase to take her investment of putting her money where her mouth is and raise it into the royal treatment.
“MMA fans need to bow down and kiss my feet and throw rose petals because I’m actually making the transition,” Shields said. “I’m not just saying it. I’m actually doing it. So give me my props. Never say that Claressa Shields is scared of nobody.
“I could just stay in boxing and make my money,” she continued. “But before I turned pro, I read this quote and it said: ‘If your dreams don’t scare you a little bit, they’re not worth dreaming.”
Do you think MMA fans should be grateful that Claressa Shields is entering the world of MMA?
