Claressa Shields Victorious in Mixed Martial Arts Debut

Two time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields got a third round stoppage against Brittney Elkin on her Mixed Martial Arts debut.

The 26-year-old Flint, Michigan native – who has won multi divisional world titles in boxing – had signed a three-year contract with Professional Fighters League last Nobember and tonight she made her debut against Brittney Elkin.

Shields looked cool, calm a composed on her way to the cage, her years of competing on the big stage fully on show. As the fight started the Olympian put out some quick combinations but Elkin was able to close the distance, grab a hold of a body lock and bring the fight to the mat. Elkin managed to get into the mount position and landed some shots on her opponent. Shields managed to hold on until the end of the round.

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Round two went much the same as round one. Shields looked the fresher fighter coming into round two and opened up with some crisp striking but she soon found herself on her back and round two was slipping away from the PFL debutant. Shield managed to scramble to her feet and landed some shots towards the end.

Shields came out for round three in much better condition than her tiring opponent. She landed some heavy shots on the feet which forced Elkin to shoot for a sloppy takedown. Shields sprawled and ended up in side control. Shields showed her killer instinct but landing heavy ground and pound forcing referee Gasper Oliver to stop the fight at 1:44 of round three.

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If you missed any of last night’s PFL action you can check out the full card right here.

Ian O'Neill is the host of the SevereMMA UFC Preview show and one of the co-hosts of The Auld Triangle - Irish MMA podcast. You can find more of Ian's work on the SevereMMA Patreon where he co-hosts The Chasing Pack and The Contender. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram @ioneillmma

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