Boxing champion Claressa Shields considering ‘trying the UFC’

It seems like two-time Olympic champion and undefeated professional boxer Claressa Shields is truly pondering a transition to the sport of mixed martial arts.

Shields, who captured gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, has been eyeing a fight in the boxing ring with current UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes. Tuesday morning, Shields took to Twitter and doubled down on a quote that inspired her to turn pro in the boxing world from sports medicine physician Dr. Jordan Metzl.

https://twitter.com/Claressashields/status/1156192235425320961

“You need a goal that scares you just a little bit,” the quote reads.

“This quote is really making me consider trying the UFC,” Shields wrote on Twitter. “I had this weird feeling about turning pro a few years ago and I stumbled up on this quote & decided to do it! And then yesterday this same quote reappeared! With all this talk about me and Nunes, I had that same feeling.”

Claressa Shields currently holds the WBO, WBA, WBC, The Ring, and IBF women’s middleweight titles and recently defeated Christina Hammer to improve to 9-0 as a professional. UFC president Dana White has expressed interest in making a fight between Shields and Nunes happen in the boxing ring, but also stated that Nunes has other business she needs to take care of in the Octagon.

Being aware of White’s positive thinking in regards to the potential matchup, Shields doesn’t see the fight going very well for Nunes.

“In MMA right now, she would beat me at this point,” Shields said in an interview with MMA Tonight on SiriusXM. “We’re talking about if we fight tomorrow, at this point she would beat me. And at this point if me and her were to fight tomorrow, I would knock her out in a boxing match. That’s just pretty clear but if Dana White wants to have her come over to boxing and try her luck with me, I’m more than willing to meet her at 154 [pounds] and we can fight.”

Shields has sparred with former women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg in the past, but doesn’t seem to have any significant MMA training under her belt. Perhaps, that will all change.

How would you see Claressa Shields faring in the Octagon with some training experience under her belt?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/30/2019.