Claressa Shields, the United States' undefeated Olympic gold medalist and three-weight world boxing champion, has signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with Professional Fighters League to become a two-sport superstar and make her mixed martial arts debut.
Shields (10-0, 2 KOs in boxing) will not participate in PFL's "season" format in 2021, but is expected to compete in one or more special attraction fights with a view to competing in a full "season" in 2022.
“I am thrilled to announce that the PFL has signed Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic boxing gold medalist and three-division pro boxing world champion,” said Peter Murray, CEO of the PFL.
“She has transcended sports and has become a global icon, and an inspiration to aspiring young athletes. Claressa is an incredible human being, a bonafide star athlete, and has an amazing story.”
In the meantime, the 25-year-old expects to continue to defend her multiple boxing titles in 2021. She last boxed on January 10 with a unanimous decision win over Croatia's Ivana Habazin to add the vacant WBC and WBO light-middleweight belts to her resume that already boasted unified middleweight and super-middle reigns.
"I wanted to test myself," Shields told ESPN when the deal was announced.
"I want to see if I can be a world champion in boxing and a world champion in MMA. That's something I want to test myself on. I'm not saying boxing is easy, but I've been on top of the world for almost 14 years now."
Shields has spoken of potentially stepping over into MMA in the past, and at one point challenged Amanda Nunes, a two-weight UFC champion, to a two-fight deal that would involve one MMA fight and one boxing contest.
She has dabbled with jiu-jitsu and worked with U.S. Olympic wrestler Adeline Gray to grow more accustomed with the disciplines required to compete at a high level in MMA, and said of grappling: "It's not as bad as I thought it would be," said Shields.
"I thought I would absolutely hate it. I thought as soon as she grabbed my leg I would get frustrated and would try to bite her or something, but that hasn't happened."
Shields is fast approaching a year of inactivity thanks in no small part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down live boxing for several months shortly after her win over Habazin.
When she does announce her next fight inside the boxing ring, one of the names most linked with her is Savannah Marshall, another Olympian who to date is the only person to defeat Shields at any level of combat sports when the two competed prior to London 2012.
"I was telling MMA fans, I'm not just a talker," Shields said. "I know that's what they are used to, all these clout chasers out there. I'm like, the real deal.
"Anything I say I can do, I put my best foot forward and I do it. I haven't lost a fight since I was 17 years old, and I'm 25. I had 77 wins as an amateur, one loss. I'm 10-0 as a pro.
"I'm not coming to MMA to lose. The next time they see me in the cage, I'm gonna have muscles coming out my damn neck training so hard to win."
Like boxing, the PFL was heavily affected by COVID-19 and cancelled their entire 2020 season. The 2021 season is tentatively set to begin in April if it can be fully compliant with the protocol at the time, and looks likely to take place in Las Vegas.
One of the PFL's top performers is lightweight competitor and 2019 season winner Kayla Harrison, who like Shields won Olympic gold in both 2012 and 2016. Harrison's wins came in judo, but Shields has said she would have no problem fighting her close friend Harrison, who is currently 8-0 in mixed martial arts.