Clarissa Shields is diving into the sport of MMA with a big chip on her shoulder, put there in large part by the UFC crew.
UFC 232 was not just any Amanda Nunes victory, but a very legitimate case can be made that it was the biggest of them all, which is saying quite a lot. Because it was at this event where Amanda Nunes handed Cris Cyborg her first loss in over a decade, and she did so in dominant fashion, KOing who was the most feared woman in the sport in under one minute. As the fans were going bonkers inside The Forum in Inglewood, California, someone watching at home was losing it for a different reason. That someone was boxing juggernaut Clarissa Shields, whose decision to enter MMA was decided in part because of this moment (Via BJPenn.com):
“I remember when Amanda Nunes knocked out Cris Cyborg and, I don’t know who said it, but they said, ‘Amanda Nunes has the best hands that we’ve seen in any sport, boxing or MMA,’ and I was like, ‘No! We are not going to do that. We are not going to say that Amanda Nunes has better hands than me,’” Shields said. “I’m a two-time Olympic gold medalist in boxing. I just wasn’t going to settle for that. That’s why I wanted to have a fight with her in boxing because when she beats girls in the UFC, the majority [of her wins] are with her hands. She knocked out Cris Cyborg with one punch. For me, I want to get in there and fight her because of that.”
The perceived disrespect of the UFC 232 commentary may have planted the seed, but ultimately, a true competitor’s biggest motivator will be what is gained from the big picture.
“I would say the motivation is success,” Shields said. “Just being able to say that I did both: I had enough heart to do boxing and be the best in that, and then I came over to MMA and I kicked ass over here, that’s more of the motivation for me.”
That said, as Clarissa Sheilds put in the work to transform into a mixed martial artist, her motivator may be success overall, but she still hasn’t forgotten about the seed that was planted on December 29, 2018, nor has she forgotten about Amanda’s Nunes’s warning of “wrestling the shit” out of Shields if she dared face her in an MMA fight.
“That’s my motivation; her saying that she’ll submit me and she’ll choke me out instead of boxing me in MMA,” Shields said. “Now I’m excited to learn some stuff so that doesn’t happen, and I’m gonna give her the hardest challenge of her life if we ever do fight — in boxing, or MMA, or both.”
What do you think of Clarissa Shields’ reasons for entering the sport of MMA?
