Claressa Shields signs multi-year deal with PFL for MMA bouts
FILE -Claressa Shields, top, punches Brittney Elkin during a Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts bout in Atlantic City, N.J., early Friday, June 11, 2021. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights. Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights.
Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. The undisputed middleweight boxing champion went 1-1 in the PFL in 2021, but is widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound female boxer.
“All my fans, y'all have been asking me, when are you getting back to MMA, when are you getting back in the cage,” Shields said in a video posted on social media. “Well, here you go. Me and the PFL have signed a great seven-figure deal.”
Shields is 14-0 with two knockouts as a pro boxer, including a unanimous decision over Maricela Cornejo in June.
“It is a privilege to announce the PFL has re-signed the most dominant women’s boxer in the world, Claressa Shields, to a new multi-year agreement,” said Peter Murray, CEO of the Professional Fighters League.
The PFL announced a week earlier the signing of Amanda Serrano, the undisputed featherweight boxing champion. Serrano has a 2-0-1 MMA record, with both wins by submission.
