Women’s boxing champion Claressa Shields had a successful MMA debut earlier this year, and now she has her next opponent lined up this fall.
PFL confirmed to MMA Junkie (following a report from The Washington Post) that Shields will take on Abigail Montes on the promotion’s championship night on October 27th in Florida.
Shields (11-0, 2 KOs in boxing) is the undisputed junior middleweight and middleweight champion, having unified the 154 lbs division in March with a one-sided decision over Marie-Eve Dicaire. The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been just as dominant in the pros as she was in the amateurs, and there was much intrigue when she announced she was going to make her MMA debut this year.
The 26-year-old did have some early difficulties dealing with the takedowns of Brittney Elkin, but her striking looked as sharp as you would expect and she won by third-round TKO with ground-and-pound on her exhausted opponent.
Montes (2-0 MMA) is just 21 years old and is coming off a second-round TKO of Teresita Lopez Plata in April. Her pro debut occurred in 2019 on a Combate Americas card in her native Mexico, where she bested Claudia Zamora by unanimous decision.
PFL’s October 27th show will feature $1 million tournament finals across six weight classes. Shields was targeted for the August 19th semifinal event but that got pushed back and she’ll be on a bigger stage for her next appearance in the MMA cage.
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