Undefeated boxing champion Claressa Shields just made history as an MMA fighter with her latest victory that took place in Saudi Arabia.
After defeating Kelsey De Santis on Feb. 24, Shields became the first champion of a professional MMA bout in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, CNN reports. The win adds to her 14-0 boxing record and improves her 2-1 record as an MMA fighter following her loss against Abigail Montes in October 2021.
“I had such a hard camp,” Shields said of the challenging win. “It’s not easy what I’m trying to do and I’ve been so respectful of the sport. I put a lot of hard work in, I’m going to go back to the gym and work harder.”
It was a tightly contested match with Shields managing to escape an armbar submission attempt by De Santis in the first round. But with some skillful maneuvering, she was able to regain her composure and ultimately secure the victory.
“I almost got my arm snapped in the freakin’ armbar. I had to fight out of that” she said.
Shields put in a lot of work leading up to the bout, which was her first MMA fight in over two years.
“There was days in camp where I was literally in tears,” she shared. “I was not considering going back to the gym because it was so hard but I forced myself to go back and that’s how I got the win tonight.”
Shields’ historical MMA match comes amid a
rise in female MMA fighters following the traditionally conservative kingdom’s ease on women residents. In January, Hattan Alsaif became the first Saudi woman to join an international MMA promotion.As for the Flint, Michigan, native, she remains a confident fighter unwavering in her ability to overcome any match that comes her way. There are talks of Shields competing against Britain’s Savannah Marshall in an MMA bout after already beating her in a world middleweight title boxing match in London in October 2022.
“Savannah needs to understand — and the sooner she understands the better — you can’t beat me in nothing,” Shields told Sky Sports. “The sooner she understands that the better we’ll all be. Just give it up.”
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