Multi-time boxing champion Claressa Shields is set to make her MMA debut for the PFL.
On Wednesday, Professional Fighters League officials announced via press release that the debut of Shields (0-0 MMA), who signed with the promotion earlier this year, will come on June 10, against Brittney Elkin (3-6). The event will be this year’s PFL 4 card.
“I am very excited to cement my legacy as the Greatest Woman of All Time,” Shields was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s press release. “I cannot wait to step into the PFL cage for the first time on June 10 and show the world that I never back down from a challenge. I have shown I am the best boxer in the world and eventually I intend to do the same thing as a mixed martial artist.”
As of March 5, 2021, when she defeated Canada’s Marie-Eve Dicaire via unanimous decision, Shields holds the WBC and WBO light middleweight titles, as well as the IBF, WBA (super), and The Ring light middleweight titles. She previously held super middleweight and middleweight titles under various sanctioning bodies. As a professional boxer, she is a perfect 11-0. Nine of her eleven wins have gone the distance.
To prepare for her mixed martial arts transition, Shields has been training at Jackson-Wink MMA, alongside the likes of Holly Holm and Jon Jones, among others.
The possibility of Shields moving to MMA arose when she turned up backstage at UFC 245 in December 2019, with the promotion setting up a media scrum for her.
Opponent Elkin has lost three straight fights in MMA, to Amanda Bell, Kayla Harrison, and Bobbi-Jo Dalziel. Since then, she has competed in multiple grappling matches.
