Claressa Shields’ sophomore MMA venture did not go according to plan on Wednesday. The boxing world champion suffered his first career loss at 2021 PFL Championship.
Shields (1-1) suffered a split decision loss to Abigail Montes (3-0) in their women’s lightweight bout. She had some moments, but ultimately couldn’t thwart the grappling of her opponent and was edged out on the scorecards.
Although there were improvements shown by Shields from her debut, the end result was her first defeat in any combat sports venture as a professional.
Luke Thomas
As Shields is demonstrating, stopping the takedown and separating from the fence can be two different skills. Still, I’d say the takedown defense Shields showed this round was, all things considered, pretty admirable.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) October 28, 2021
Scott Fontana
R1 10-9 Shields. Spent a lot of time pinned against the fence, but he was easily the more effective striker and that’s what counts. #PFLChampionship
— Scott Fontana (@Scott_Fontana) October 28, 2021
Sherdog
Montes hits the takedown with about 2:15 left in the round. Let’s see if she can do anything with it. Greg Jackson thinks that Shields will just stand right back up. #PFLChampionship
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) October 28, 2021
Fight Ghost
Montes throwing ground and pound without looking at her opponent and hitting the air. #PFLChampionship
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) October 28, 2021
Sherdog
Shields fights her way back up the fence, where the round concludes against the wire. It will be a close one. #PFLChampionship
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) October 28, 2021
Luke Thomas
Shields’s improvement given the amount of time she’s trained is legitimately impressive.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) October 28, 2021
Aaron Bronsteter
19-19 heading into the third.
— Aaron Br🎃nsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 28, 2021
Yves Edwards
I meant this next round.
— The Thugjitsu Master (@thugjitsumaster) October 28, 2021
Mookie Alexander
I respect Claressa for giving MMA a shot, in part because it pays better at a high-level on the women’s side.
….But uh…. yeah.
— Mookie Oleksandr (@mookiealexander) October 28, 2021
Fight Ghost
Now full mount and a clear win for Montes 29-28 FOR SURE !!! Shields got her ASS WHOOPED in the final minute of the fight. #PFLChampionship
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) October 28, 2021
Rob Tatum
Who wants to bet there’s a Shields scorecard?
— Rob Tatum (@RobTatum303) October 28, 2021
Shaheen Al-Shatti
I remain baffled by PFL’s matchmaking for Claressa Shields. Is it that hard to find a striker for her to style on? Especially after her debut. #PFLChampionship
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) October 28, 2021
Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Montes is the winner right ?
— Olivier Aubin-Mercier (@oliaubin) October 28, 2021
Bryan Hamper
Respect to @Claressashields she had nothing to prove to anyone but she still put it on the line by coming to the @PFLMMA she is the 🐐 regardless of the outcome!
— Bryan Hamper (@BryanHamper) October 28, 2021
Yves Edwards
29-28 @Claressashields or 28-28 draw(10-8 possibly for the mounted punches but Shields was never hurt there so idk)
— The Thugjitsu Master (@thugjitsumaster) October 28, 2021
Belal Muhammad
Claressa is getting better she needs 3 more fights under her belt and I think we’ll really see where she can go in mma
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) October 28, 2021
Caposa
Strong finish for Montes with some actual meaningful GNP. Her punches in that 2nd round after the takedown were not very effective, and there’s an argument Shields did more damage. 29-28 either way wouldn’t surprise me to be honest.
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 28, 2021
Malki Kawa
Split decision? Wtf is this, boxing? 🙄
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) October 28, 2021
Mike Coppinger
Claressa Shields has suffered the first defeat of her professional fighting career. Abigail Montes with the split-decision win in the three-round PFL fight, the second MMA bout of Shields’ career.
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) October 28, 2021
Josh Barnett
So Claressa Shields lost a fight in MMA…don’t care.
Shields still has much to offer MMA and now Montes has a name for herself. Looking forward to seeing Shields back in the cage and how she evolves from here.#PFL #PFLChampionship
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@JoshLBarnett) October 28, 2021
Bobby Razak
Mad respect to @Claressashields – Shields is willing to play high stakes poker with her career. Shields came up short today, but proved she is courageous 🙏🏽.
— Bobby Razak (@bobbyrazak) October 28, 2021
Follow MMAJ!
Newsletter
Get the day’s top stories
Success
Thanks for signing up.
Please check your email for a confirmation.
Whoa!
Something went wrong.
More MMA Junkie