BOXING phenom Claressa Shields will make her eagerly-anticipated mixed martial arts debut in June.
The undefeated three-weight world champion shocked the combat sports world late last year by penning a multi-year deal with the Professional Fighters League.
American Shields’ deal with the PFL allows her to compete in boxing and MMA simultaneously, with her maiden cage outing set to take place a little over two months after her undisputed junior middleweight title fight with Marie-Eve Dicaire on March 5.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist told SunSport: “My MMA match will be in the middle of June.”
Shields – who has been honing her craft at JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico – is excited at the prospect of stepping in the cage but admits she’s somewhat nervous about her debut.
The pride of Flint, Michigan said: “Every time I say it, I feel this thing in my stomach.
“I don’t know what it is, but every time I say, ‘MMA match, coming up soon in June’ I feel like a tightening in my stomach. It’s like, ‘Yeah, you have to go.’
“I’m super excited about it, I really am. It’s going to be something great to watch because I hate losing. I’m so hard on myself.”
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Although she’s the definition of an MMA rookie, Shields, 25, intends to hold herself to the same high standards she does when competing in the squared circle.
She said: “In a boxing match, I can win by unanimous decision and I can still be mad about the fight.
“I’m mad because she hit me with this shot, or I’m mad because I didn’t do this or that.
“So in MMA, there’s going to be so much more to be mad about. Like, ‘Oh, I threw a kick wrong.’ Or maybe I went for a takedown too far out, you know.
“It’s going to be so much more to be mad about because I have to get things right.
“I’m motivated to look very well in this MMA fight, but it’s going to be hard to look so well in an MMA fight when you have to do so many different things.
“In boxing, you just have the one-two, the uppercuts and the hooks, right?
“And then in MMA, you’ve got the wrestling, the jiu-jitsu, the takedowns, the avoiding of takedowns, the blocking kicks to kicking.
“And it’s like you can be in the fight and do all those things wrong. And that’s going to bother me.
“You can do all those things wrong and still win. And that’s going to bother me.”
Before she can set foot inside the cage, Shields must first get through her showdown with the undefeated Dicaire.
The Olympian is by no means overlooking the Canadian, although she admits she’s already looking forward to returning to New Mexico to prepare for her MMA bow.
T-Rex said: “I’m just ready to have this fight on March 5, get back into training for MMA and just drill, drill, drill until June and just come out like a powerhouse.
“Because this is going to be something great to watch.”
The announcement of Shield’s intention to compete in MMA was criticised by some fans of the sport, many of whom questioned her commitment to the endeavour.
That criticism, however, has been like water off a duck’s back to Shields, who insists she’s taking her transition into the sport very seriously.
She said: “To everybody that is worried my debut or they’re going to be tuning in to see me, I want them to know that I have put in the hard work, I have put in the time. And I still have more time left.
“And if you don’t have nothing nice to say, just don’t say nothing at all.”
