Claressa Shields proved that she has a long future in the mixed martial arts as the Olympic boxing champion won a TKO over Elkin in the Professional Fighters League Card main event. She said that she had made up her mind not to lose this fight.
It was a slow start in the first couple of rounds. But then she got Elkin to the ground and won decisively with some telling heavy shots. The 155lb lightweight fight was over in the 2nd minute of the third round.
Claressa Shields Comes In With An Astounding Boxing Record
She has an enviable 11-0 record in boxing and has won in multiple categories. She topped in the light middleweight, middleweight, and finally the super middleweight. She has been the fastest boxer to become a world champion in 3 divisions.
Claressa Shields had won the gold at the London Olympics back in 2012 with a repeat at the next games in Rio De Janeiro.
Claressa Shields refers to herself as the GWOAT, the Greatest Woman Of All Time. But her inexperience in MMA showed in the early rounds where she took a pounding from Elkin. But her boxing experience had steeled herself to absorb those initial poundings.
She then was back with telling headshots and kept pounding Elkin forcing her into submission.
She acknowledged that MMA would be a different challenge for her. She said that she had never doubted winning a boxing match. But things seemed different in MMA.
In other fights, Clay Collard has also made a smooth transition from boxing to MMA. He came away with a split decision against Joilton Lutterbach.
Bubba Jenkins used his wrestling prowess against Bobby Moffett and won by a unanimous decision. A former wrestler, Jenkins was almost down in the third round after a strong first two rounds. But he held on to win with all the 3 judges giving him 29-28.
