Kayla Harrison: Claressa Shields has already climbed toughest mountains; MMA no different

Kayla Harrison thinks Claressa Shields is more than capable of finding success in MMA.

Boxing champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Shields signed a deal with PFL last November and is in the process of transitioning to MMA while boxing at the same time. She won’t be taking part in PFL’s 2021 season and will take one-off fights at lightweight instead.

Having dominated a sport on the highest level herself, two-time judo Olympic gold medalist Harrison knows exactly what it’s like to make the transition to MMA. She has the utmost confidence that Shields will find success and offered her some simple advice.

“I think I would tell her just to breathe,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “For me, in my first fight, it kinda all comes rushing back. That feeling of, ‘Oh my God, am I capable of this? What am I doing? Why didn’t I just stay in my lane? Well what if this is my lane, what if this is what I was meant to do?’ You never know until you try. Get your ass out there. So I think the key for your first fight is just to breathe and remember who you are.

“It’s no mistake that you are where you are. You have two Olympic gold medals, something that 0.0001 percent of the population can say. You’ve already climbed some of the toughest mountains in the world, and this is no different. It’s just another thing in your way. It’s just another thing to check off your list, another thing to do.”

Shields has spent time at Jackson Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., training alongside former champions Jon Jones and Holly Holm. Harrison recalls having to go from a pro in her area of expertise to a beginner in MMA and advises Shields not to be deterred when facing the same predicament.

“I would say in terms of training, don’t be afraid to let the master live beside the beginner inside of you,” Harrison said. “She is the best in the world at what she does. Don’t be afraid to find ways to use what you’re the best in the world at, but also don’t be afraid to get submitted or to get tapped. For me, I had to learn to not be afraid to get punched in the face, put myself in bad situations, learn the crap that I wasn’t good at so that I could become a well rounded fighter.”

With Shields competing at lightweight for her first MMA fight, talks of a potential matchup with Harrison have already started. While Harrison thinks those talks are premature, she knows the magnitude of a potential fight would be huge.

“It’s just one of those timing things, right. A lot of careers are about timing. Who knows where I’m gonna be at the end of this year? We’re definitely not gonna fight this year,” Harrison said. “She’s not in the tournament; she’s not in the season. My contract is up with the PFL at the end of this season, so we’ll see what happens there and she’s super green. Who knows? We have to see what happens in the fight. Maybe she goes out and knocks out a girl in 10 seconds and then we don’t really know.

“Maybe she has her second fight, and she makes it to the second round, she struggles with her ground game or something. You never know. It’s MMA. Anything can happen. But I would love to watch her career, watch her blossom. I’m a big fan of hers. I have a lot of respect for her and if the time comes where we do get to fight, it’s gonna be one hell of a show. It’s like old-school MMA, every super fan’s dream. Like one discipline vs. the other discipline.”