Olympic gold medalist boxer Claressa Shields signs multi-year deal to fight in MMA, sources say



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Claressa Shields, arguably the world’s No.1 pound-for-pound boxer, has signed an exclusive multi-year contract with the PFL that will see her transition to professional mixed martial arts, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Two-time Olympic boxing gold medalist Shields, 25, will not compete in the traditional PFL “season format” in 2021 but intends to aim for a place for the season in 2022, the sources confirmed. . She will continue to box in 2021 and compete in MMA.

MMA Junkie was the first to report the signing.

A native of Flint, Michigan, Shields was a gold medalist boxer for the United States at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She teased the idea of ​​a transition to MMA for over a year and, at a given time, challenged UFC two-weight champion Amanda Nunes to a two-fight contest consisting of a boxing match, an MMA match.

Shields also told ESPN earlier this year that she attended a few jiu-jitsu classes and started taking MMA training in preparation for a possible MMA transition.

“I’m not going in this blind. I’m not,” Shields said. “I can kick a little bit and I learned jiu-jitsu and submissive moves and stuff like that, but I haven’t done it seriously enough to do this in my sleep.” I can fight my sleep. I can’t do that stuff. I have to really think about the moves that I learned, the things that I learned and the kicking techniques where in boxing I know how to let go of my hands and form and power and everything.

“I want MMA to be the same.”

The PFL has postponed its entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans to resume its 2021 season in April in Las Vegas. The promotion offers a lightweight 155-pound division for women, and it’s led by 2019 winner Kayla Harrison. Harrison also won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016 for the United States in judo. Harrison is 8-0 in MMA.

Information from Brett Okamoto and Mike Rothstein of ESPN contributed to this report.

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