Claressa Shields is ready to fight Cris Cyborg in 2025.
Training partners once upon a time, the relationship between Shields and Cyborg became acrimonious over the past few years. That animosity only ramped up in 2024 with Cyborg calling Shields out for a possible meeting in either the boxing ring or the PFL cage.
But Shields believes it’s all talk coming from Cyborg.
“She wants the clout,” Shields told the Pound 4 Pound podcast recently. “That’s what Cris Cyborg wants. Ain’t nobody paying attention to no Cris Cyborg no more. She’s old and I’m new. I’m popping right now. She’s a hater. And when we sparred, I kicked her ass, easy. She’s lucky I didn’t knock her ass out because the way she was looking, like a deer up in headlights. ...
“She’s talking about she wants to fight me,” Shields continued. “Well, bitch come do it! Come fight me! I don’t understand what we’re waiting on. She’s like, ‘Oh, I want you to come to MMA.’ No, you idiot. I’m not going to MMA. You said you would knock me out if we wore eight-ounce gloves at 154 pounds. I don’t give a damn if we wear four-ounce gloves, I’m going to sleep Cris Cyborg, because what? She cannot fight. You’re an MMA fighter!”
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Shields is a five-weight world champion in boxing and widely regarded as one of the best female boxers in the world. Still just 29 years old, Shields has also flirted some with MMA, taking three fights in the PFL, including a split decision win over Kelsey DeSantis back in February.
In contrast, Cyborg is one of the most accomplished female MMA fighters ever, who began dabbling in boxing over the past few years, with a 4-0 professional record.
Given their respective backgrounds, it’s clear that Shields would have a big advantage in a boxing match, while Cyborg would be an overwhelming favorite in an MMA fight. And though Shields clearly has no love for Cyborg at this point, even she acknowledges that facing her in MMA would not be to her advantage.
“No, I’m not going to fight Cris Cyborg in MMA,” Shields said. “Why? She’s got too much experience. I don’t have enough time to learn it. If I was better on the ground — I just don’t have the time to do that stuff. I have trained maybe a year full-time doing jiu-jitsu and all that stuff...
“Boxing is a more fair sport. How is it more fair? In boxing, you’ve got your left and your right. In MMA, she’s got her left, her right, her elbows, her knees, her kicks, the ground game. All her experience in MMA, versus me who, I’ve only been doing MMA a year and a half, two years. ...
“But the thing is, lord knows, I would f*ck Cris Cyborg up in a street fight.”
Whether or not that’s true, we may never know; however, we may find out who wins in a boxing match.
After beating Larissa Pacheco in PFL earlier this year, there aren’t a lot of obvious opponents for Cyborg, and though Shields already has plans for her next boxing bout, “The GWOAT” is willing to oblige the former UFC champion after that’s done.
“I’m entertaining it,” Shields said. “I don’t know why she wants to make this whole facade of that. First of all, why do I got to be scared of Cris Cyborg? Make it make sense! What am I supposed to be scared of? I’m bigger than you! I’m stronger than you! I’m better than you! In a boxing ring? I keep telling her bring her ass and come on. Do it quick. Hurry up. Come and fight me. It’s not hard to make a fight with me.
“She said she wants to fight at 154. I fight Feb. 2 in Flint, Michigan, up at heavyweight, 175, for the undisputed championship. Then guess what? She can get her ass kicked Feb. 3, the next day. It’s simple.”
