A tearful admitted she felt her arm nearly snap in Saturday’s mixed-martial victory victory in Saudi Arabia.
The undefeated boxer and two-time Olympic gold medalist was moonlighting in the cage once again, where she grinded out a split-decision win over Kelsey to improve to 2-1 as an MMA lightweight.
‘I almost got my arm snapped in a freaking armbar,’ Shields said in her post-fight interview. ‘I had to fight out of that.’
Shields, who also battled a severe cramp, became emotional when describing the difficult transition to MMA.
‘It’s not easy what I’m trying to do and I’ve been so respectful of the sport,’ she said. ‘I put a lot of hard work in, I’m going to go back to the gym and work harder.
‘Savannah needs to understand – and the sooner she understands the better – you can’t beat me in nothing,’ Shields told Sky Sports. ‘The sooner she understands that the better we’ll all be. Just give it up.
‘We can fight boxing, I’m going to win. We can fight MMA, I’m going to win. We can streetfight, I’m going to win. It doesn’t matter. We can play ping pong, I’m going to win.’
Shields has been critical of boxing, calling the sport sexist and pointing to some six- and seven-figure paydays for women in MMA.
‘Kayla [Harrison], I watch all her fights,’ Shields said on social media in 2020. ‘She had a chance to fight for a million dollars [in MMA] before I had a chance to fight for a million dollars in boxing and I’ve accomplished everything there is to accomplish in boxing.’
