Combat sports fans may see another crossover fight between boxing and mixed martial arts. This time, undefeated boxing champion Claressa Shields wants to make her MMA debut in 2020 and potentially face two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes.
“The Lioness” further established her dominance on Saturday with a unanimous decision win over Germaine de Randamie to defend the women’s bantamweight champion. When asked if she is willing to make her jump to boxing and fight Shields, Nunes initially said she was not.
But when asked if she would do it with a lucrative deal in place, she had this to say.
“A million? (I want) more than that,” Nunes said during her post-fight scrum.
Ultimately, Nunes feels Shields should make the move to mixed martial arts if she wants a fight. And if it does happen, the Brazilian champion is already assured about her chances.
“I’m an MMA fighter, why does she want to take me away from my sport? If she wants to fight me, come into my world,” she said.
“I respect her as a boxer but I’m an MMA fighter. I don’t like to fight in boxing. I like MMA. I like what I did today. If she can handle that for five rounds, come see me.
“She wants to see me? I’m gonna wrestle the sh-t out of you and finish you with jiu-jitsu submissions. I want to see how she’s gonna feel (about) that,” said Nunes.
Nunes has now defended the women’s bantamweight title five times since winning it against Miesha Tate in 2016. She has yet to defend the women’s featherweight title she won from Cris Cyborg in December 2018.
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