Shields Opens Up On Decision To Sign With PFL

Olympic gold medalist and boxing champ Claressa Shields stated in a recent interview that the UFC wanted to sign her to a one fight deal. Shields also said the world’s biggest MMA organization wanted to put her up against the best in the Women’s UFC division. During a recent interview Shields explained why she chose to sign with the PFL instead of the UFC…

“Hey, come and train a few months and then fight against the best girl that we have at your weight. I think that’s unfair to me and it’s not giving me enough time to learn. If you’re talking about letting me train for two years and then I’ll fight against the best girl you have. All right, cool. But the conversation with Dana was almost like a one fight deal a little bit.”

Claressa Shields

The Boxing Champ Plans To Fight In Boxing And MMA In 2021

Not only will Claressa make her MMA debut in 2021, but she also plans on staying active in the boxing ring. In fact, she has a bout scheduled for February 2021.

“With the PFL, it was ‘Let’s train, let’s start you at this level and work your way up’ and then I’ll have a chance to fight in the PFL tournament in 2022,” she continued. “And also I’ll still be able to box, so my boxing career isn’t just over because I’m doing MMA. I actually have a boxing match in February, it just hasn’t been announced yet. I still get to box and I’m not getting rushed. And it’s a lucrative deal and a lucrative conversation where it was a three year deal. It’s not like ‘Hey come over here fight two times and go back to boxing.’ I’m a conqueror and I’m a winner so I want to put myself in a position to always win.

Claressa Shields

Claressa really did make a brilliant decision by signing with the PFL instead of the UFC. Throwing a Boxing champ in the octagon against the best of the best would’ve backfired for Shields. She needs to train. She needs to practice. You can’t just go from the boxing ring to the cage or octagon. This is a long game for Shields and it will pay off big time should she be successful in the PFL. She’ll build stock in herself in the MMA world for a couple years and then the UFC will be begging her to join.