Claressa Shields is in terrific shape ahead of her MMA comeback.
The undefeated three-weight boxing world champion hasn’t fought in her second sport since suffering a split decision defeat against Abigail Montes in October 2021.
Shields will look to improve her MMA record to 2-1 when she squares off against fellow novice Kelsey DeSantis on the PFL vs Bellator: CHAMPIONS card in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
It’ll be her first fight of any kind since outboxing Maricela Cornejo to retain her WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and WBF middleweight boxing belts in June 2023.
Since then, Shields has battled with a mental health issue that led to her gaining a lot of weight before she got back in the gym and completed an incredible body transformation.
Earlier this month, the 28-year-old shared a before and after picture that showed how far she’s come since deciding to fight back against depression.
“I did go through a rough time, and it did make me gain a whole lot of weight,” Shields told talkSPORT.com. “I was just not motivated, and kind of discouraged.
“When I started back training, I did just decide to not let depression win and just to keep working. I really wasn’t going to let anyone know about it, but it was something that was on my heart to put out there.”
Shields, who is aptly nicknamed ‘The Greatest Woman of All Time’, revealed her unhappiness wasn’t to do with fighting, and was exacerbated by personal issues.
She added: “It wasn’t nothing involving boxing why I was down.
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“Real-life stuff happened that I can’t really go into detail about. People have family problems, relationship problems, and problems with yourself that you can’t really figure out.
“At the end of the day, I feel like I conquered it. I’ve only had to deal with depression a few times in my life, and it always feels different every time it creeps back on you.
“It’s all about if you’re going to let depression win or not, and I decided to win like I do everything else.”
Shields will carry her fighting spirit into the cage this weekend.
The Flint, Michigan native has set herself the lofty goal of becoming the first person to hold world titles in boxing and MMA simultaneously, and her journey starts against DeSantis.
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If it doesn’t come off it won’t be for a lack of trying. Shields is certainly putting the work in, and her body transformation shows that.
