Claressa Shields is a drive in boxing and a rising star in MMA however discovered herself in deep waters towards Holly Holm, a former UFC champion. ‘GWOAT’ Shields lately opened up about an intense coaching expertise with one of the crucial achieved figures in fight sports activities, Holly Holm.
Claressa Shields Coaching with Holly Holm
Identified for her legendary profession in each boxing and MMA, Holm put Shields to the check in a brutal coaching session that left the undefeated champion questioning what she had gotten herself into.
In a current interview, Shields recalled a second throughout her MMA coaching camp, the place she discovered herself face-to-face with the seasoned veteran, Holly Holm. “I’m in a training camp, getting ready for the fight, right? And they got me there with Holly Holm, and they’re like, first of all, Holly is an OG. She’s an OG. Holly Holm and Jonny Bones—Holly Holm is an OG,” Shields started, highlighting Holm’s expertise and standing within the combating world.
The session was designed as a “big boxing day,” however with a twist. Each fighters wore giant gloves, permitting for punches whereas nonetheless incorporating takedowns. Nevertheless, not all fighters have been prepared to face and commerce blows. “Some people are like, ‘Look, I’m not good at standing up, so I’m gonna take you down,’” Shields defined.
As Claressa Shields threw punches at Holly Holm, she was shocked when the MMA veteran retaliated with a kick that induced a minor damage. “I’m talking about, I’m giving Holly the hands—the big rights, boom boom boom. I’m—man, she threw a kick. Man, her toenail cut my nose and nicked me. I said, ‘Oh, [expletive], it’s real!’”
The state of affairs escalated rapidly as Holly Holm took Claressa Shields to the bottom, forcing the boxing champion right into a place she was unfamiliar with. Shields admitted, “Then I get mad, I start charging her, hitting her—hitting her—boom, boom. She took me down to the ground, and I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t get up. The way she was putting her head inside my chin and my neck, the way she was putting her elbow on me—I’m like, ‘What the hell am I supposed to do down here?’”
Together with her coaching crew urging her to work on the methods she had been taught, Claressa Shields discovered herself struggling to flee. “Man, I said, ‘This is for real.’ I said, ‘What did I get myself into?’”
Shields’ journey into MMA has been marked by spectacular achievements. She made a profitable debut in 2021 with the PFL and gained her first combat by TKO within the third spherical. In boxing, Shields holds an undefeated file of and she or he made historical past as the primary boxer to carry undisputed titles in a number of weight courses concurrently within the four-belt period.
Holly Holm is a former world champion boxer and UFC icon has additionally made her mark in each sports activities. Holm retired from boxing with a powerful file and transitioned to MMA, the place she famously defeated Ronda Rousey to grow to be the UFC Ladies’s Bantamweight Champion in 2015. Moreover, she holds a spot within the Boxing Corridor of Fame.
Claressa Shields will subsequent look to defend her title towards Danielle Perkins on February 2, and can doubtless compete in MMA later this yr as nicely. Holly Holm continues to be an lively fighter and a staple of the UFC.
