Shields Reacts To PFL Loss, Shuts Down Paul

“Not discouraged at all.”

Claressa Shields came up short in her second mixed martial arts (MMA) fight last night (Weds., Oct. 27, 2021), losing to Abigail Montes via split decision in a showcase fight at PFL’s championship event in Hollywood, Florida.

Shortly thereafter, YouTube sensation-turned-celebrity boxer Jake Paul jumped on the opportunity to kick Shields while she was down. While it might seem like an unnecessary low blow from Paul, “The Problem Child” sees it as karma because Shields has been very outspoken about his boxing skills … or lack thereof.

“This is funny. You come running when I lose a split decision in a [whole] new world [in] MMA but never even once said, ‘Congrats on all you’ve done and aspire to do.’ Two things that remain Jake: I still fight better than you and you won’t accomplish 10 percent of what I have in boxing or life,” Shields posted on Twitter.

“I lost a split decision, I didn’t get my ass whooped, I also improved. All I’m going to do is go back to the drawing board and keep learning. No one said this journey was going to be easy. MMA is new to me, I’m fighting on a world stage after only nine months of training.”

“Unlike Jake I fought a real MMA fighter, he has yet to face a real boxer in boxing, but Showtime will still back him though,” Shields added. “The difference in last night was I’ve never had to fight or even train in a cage so damn slippery. It’s all learning and just different from boxing. I did a lot of things right last night. I just lost a split decision.”

Shields didn’t have an answer for her opponent’s wrestling and couldn’t close enough distance to strike without getting taken down when the action was on the feet. For the multi-time boxing champion, the loss is a valuable learning tool in her new combat sports venture and vows to learn from it.

“Watch my next MMA fight, I’ll be on a different level,” Shields said. “Not discouraged at all.”

As for Paul, he was in talks to fight Tommy Fury in December, though it’s still not 100-percent clear if “The Problem Child” will follow through or if he just loves trolling everyone time and time again. Shields, meanwhile, will return to her boxing roots on Dec. 11 to defend her WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring middleweight titles against Ema Kozin, who is 21-0-1 as a pro boxer.

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