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World champion boxer Claressa Shields ventured into the treacherous waters of MMA, officially kicking off her debut in the PFL 4 against Brittney Elkin. Despite being a newbie to grappling and dealing with leg kicks, armbars, and ground and pound, Shields showed great heart and earned her first win via third-round TKO.
Claressa Shields is new to MMA but not to combat sports. She has held boxing world championships in three weight classes and four major world titles: WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. She is also the first woman to win lineal championships in two weight divisions.
In this article, we look at three talking points from Claressa Shields' historic PFL debut win against Brittney Elkin:
#3 - Claressa Shields needs to learn grappling and has potential
Claressa Shields needs to get better at the multi-faceted nature of MMA. While she is an established striker, her grappling skills are still in their infancy. She was repeatedly taken down by Brittney Elkins, which silenced the boxing champion's striking game and rendered her powerless for the majority of the first two rounds.
Claressa Shields committed similar mistakes in the first and second rounds. In the rare moments when she had Brittney Elkin on the ground, Shields did not play to her strengths and followed her opponent to the ground. As a result, she ended up giving up her top position and allowing Elkin to mount her again.
However, Claressa Shields did show quite a bit of potential in her grappling IQ. Proving that she has worked to learn the craft over the seven-month training period, Shields displayed some defensive fundamentals in her ground game.
She got out of a kimura hold and shoulder lock multiple times in the first round, and when Brittney Elkin pounced on her, Shields kept her guard up. In the second round, she defended against a potential arm triangle and a dangerously close armbar. Shields even executed near-perfect sprawls to defend against Elkin's takedowns throughout the fight.
#2 - She has the heart of a champion
Claressa Shields struggled in the first two rounds to mount an assault on Brittney Elkin. However, the Olympian stayed calm even when in bad spots and fought her way through to the third round.
While Brittney Elkin was dominating Shields from a mounted position in the first two rounds, the debutant gave the veteran a hard time. When the third round came, Claressa Shields knew it was her time to shine.
"I kept telling myself, ‘It’s going to be hard,’ because it’s a whole different world," said Shields. "I’m like, ‘It’s going to be hard,' and 'Do not expect an easy win.’ Every time I sat down in the corner I said, ‘Dang, I lost another round.’ ... When I tell you that third round came, I said, ‘I’m bout to just dog her.’ And I went crazy after that. I am not losing."
Explaining what kept her going through those difficult rounds of her PFL debut, Claressa Shields said:
"I’ve been doing MMA for seven months, she’s been doing it for 12 years, so I knew I was at a disadvantage. But I also knew too that I’m just a different kind of animal. Even though I felt like I was losing, I still felt like, 'We still have time.'"
#1 - Claressa Shields is a true striker
Claressa Shields kept reminding the audience and Brittney Elkin that while she was new to MMA, she very well knew how to strike. Shields successfully landed several strikes, even from her back, in the first two rounds.
In the opening seconds of the third round, she landed two thunderous right jabs, forcing Elkin to attempt another takedown. Claressa Shields later revealed that her coaches had instructed her not to succumb to another takedown in the last round, and she obliged.
After getting Elkin to hug her feet following the sprawl, Shields got back on her feet and pummeled her opponent. Even though her coaches told her to let Elkin stand up, Shields refused, showing absolute confidence in her striking IQ. She said at the post-fight conference:
"I was like, ‘For what?’ No. I had her (Elkin) where I knew I could just take her, just give it to her. She wasn’t strong enough to get me up so I just kept hitting her, kept hitting her and I told myself keep hitting her until she quit."
Claressa Shields kept pounding on Brittney Elkin until she was pulled away by the referee in the second minute of round three.
Watch the post-fight press conference below:
