Claressa Shields overcame some worrying moments before winning her most-recent PFL MMA fight on points over three rounds.
Fighting in the Professional Fighters League in Saudi Arabia this evening (Saturday, February 24), Shields was on top early with some exchanges but started to get involved in close and that suited her opponent, Kelsey DeSantis.
In the second round, Shields was trapped in an armbar and survived, in pain, for some 40 seconds.
In the third round, the fighters were on their feet and Shields was able to land heavy combinations, with DeSantis firing back but coming off second best.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist was taken down near the end of the final round, but two judges still felt she had done enough to win.
An emotional Shields, 28, afterwards said, “It’s not easy what I’m trying to do. I’ve been so respectful of the sport. I put a lot of hard work into this, I’m just going to go back to the gym and work harder. I just got my arm snapped in an armbar, I had to fight out of that.”
Shields was fighting in a preliminary bout on the PFL Champions V Bellator Champions show in the Kingdom.
She is now 2-1 in MMA and 14-0 (2 KOs) as a boxer.