Claressa Shields may have lost her fight with Abigail Montes, but she did not lose any respect from Nate Diaz.
Diaz has always had some respect for Shields, especially during her recent move to MMA. In fact, prior to her MMA debut, a fight that she would end up winning in a come from behind victory over Brittney Elkin in June, he watched a ton of the boxing world champion’s fights to get familiar with her style and support her heading into the contest.
In fact, even after Shields suffered defeat in her sophomore outing, getting controlled on the ground en route to a split decision loss to Montes, the younger Diaz brother has nothing but respect for her. Following this loss in the 2021 PFL Championships, he posted to his Twitter, praising Shields for being what he determines is a real fighter.
“Big shoutout to @Claressashields real fight real fighter much more props deserved ??” Diaz wrote.
This is a big compliment to Claressa Shields from someone like Nate Diaz, who does not throw around compliments very often. To put it in perspective, the last major time that he called someone a real fighter was when he was working to secure a BMF title fight with Jorge Masvidal, getting an entire belt crafted for the fight, which was then awarded by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
It is fair to say that Shields is a divisive figure in the world of combat sports, with her brash and confident attitude, as well as her short temper on social media, being a point of contention among fans. That being said, she also has a ton of fans, and if Nate Diaz is a supporter of you, that says something about the type of person and fighter that you really are.
