Claressa Shields’ takeaway from first 3 MMA fights: ‘I have potential to be an MMA champion’

Claressa Shields knows she’ll always have detractors being in the combat sports public eye, but she’s learned the fan bases are much different between boxing and MMA.

Shields, the undisputed light middleweight boxing champion, recently improved her pro MMA record to 2-1 with a hard-fought split decision win over Kelsey DeSantis at PFL vs. Bellator in Saudi Arabia. “T-Rex” has seen how the MMA community has cast some doubt on her future in the sport...