Sorry, Cyborg! Five-division boxing world champion, Claressa Shields, retires from MMA – ‘It was too hard’
Claressa Shields, the “G.W.O.A.T.” (Greatest Woman of All Time), today (Mon., May 19, 2025) retired from mixed martial arts (MMA).
The five-division boxing world champion announced her departure from the sport after compiling a 2-1 record in a three-year span. “T-Rex” (2-1) competed three times exclusively under the Professional Fighters League (PFL) banner, debuting for the promotion back in June 2021.
“MMA is done,” Shields told Ariel Helwani. “It was fun, but I don’t have enough time to train for it. It takes six to eight months just to get ready to defend takedowns. Even though I got a lot better and put in the time, I broke my arm twice. It was fun, and I enjoyed every fight I did.
“It takes a lot of time to train for MMA — time that I don’t have,” Shields revealed. “I had aspirations of becoming a PFL MMA world champion and fighting Kayla Harrison or Larissa Pacheco one day. I had those dreams and aspirations, but I just don’t have enough time. I’m already great in boxing, and to be great like that in MMA, I would have to train consistently for at least three to four years. I did really well in MMA. It was fun, but it was too hard.
“My family never wanted me to do it,” Shields concluded. “I did it because I wanted to prove a point, and I proved that point — to myself three times; though you could say twice because I won twice. I got into a new relationship, and he can’t even handle me boxing. We had a talk, and he was like, ‘I cannot handle MMA.’ He said, ‘Can you please not do that anymore?’ I was like, ‘Okay.’”
Shields debuted with a stoppage victory over Brittney Elkin in June 2021 (watch highlights), but ran into Abby Montes next and lost a split decision in Oct. 2021. Her final MMA bout was a split decision win over Kelsey DeSantis at the “PFL vs. Bellator” super card back in Feb. 2024.
Unfortunately, Shields will be unable to fight MMA legend, Cris Cyborg, inside the smart cage, but with Cyborg taking more and more boxing matches nowadays (and technically having more KOs than Shields), maybe the two can settle their beef inside the squared circle?
Until then, Shields will defend her undisputed Heavyweight title against Lani Daniels on July 26, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan.
