TMZSports.com
Claressa Shields resigned with PFL … and as the boxing superstar prepares to get back in the MMA cage, she says she’s getting some tips from the one and only Conor McGregor.
“Conor McGregor inboxed me,” Shields told TMZ Sports.
“Conor actually gave me some of the best advice today actually. He was just like ‘Don’t take away from your boxing. You need to get comfortable being on your back and comfortable with your wrestling.'”
Shields, who signed a multiyear deal with the MMA promotion this week, went 1-1 in the cage under the PFL banner in 2021. In the ring, she is regarded as one of, if not the best female boxer in the world.
Any struggles Claressa has had in MMA resulted from being taken down … and that’s something she intends to work on with The Notorious, himself.
“That’s an honor and that’s a privilege for me, so thank you to Conor McGregor for that, and I look forward to working with him some.”
Claressa says McGregor’s not the only one who reached out … and as she’s “reconstructing [her] whole team,” Shields says she’s also been in contact with Cris Cyborg.
“[Cyborg’s] one of the toughest and roughest female combat fighters in the world and she reached out. I may do some work with her. I don’t know.”
As for when she plans to get back in the cage, Claressa says … “I know it’ll be next year, I don’t know if it’s February, March, or a little bit after that. I just really wanna hone my skills.”
We also talked to Shields about Jake Paul (who coincidentally) is also signed to PFL. But, if you thought that’d mean Claressa wasn’t coming for “The Problem Child,” you’re mistaken.
Shields says she is down to fight Paul … and she’s sure she’ll beat him.
“I would really fight Jake Paul in a fight, honestly, and I would win. He knows that. He knows that.”
Check out the full interview with Shields … there’s more on her MMA comeback, a boxing match with Jake, and a stern warning for “little man” Keith Thurman!