All eyes on are on Claressa Shields going into her MMA debut at 2021 PFL 4 on Thursday, but Brittney Elkin doesn’t plan to be a stepping stone.
Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and multiple-time boxing world champion, will make the rare transition from high-level boxing to MMA when she meets Elkin at the June 10 event at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The card airs on ESPN2.
After claiming all the accolades in the boxing world, Shields says the change in sports was all about the challenge.
“I’ve done everything in boxing,” Shields said. “I just really wanted to see what could I do in my career to make me more of the GWOAT? The greatest woman of all-time. What more can you do to solidify it? I’ve done everything in boxing, so for me, it was like, what about MMA?”
As we’ve seen many times over, though, MMA and boxing are very different once the athletes step in the confines of the fighting environment. It’s up to Elkin to give Shields a rude welcome, and she’ll need to make her uncomfortable inside the cage in order to make that happen.
Elkin said takedowns are an undeniable part of her strategy, and it’s the goal to see if Shields will sink or swim when she gets put on her back on the mat.
“I don’t think it’s a game planning secret that she has hands and I have ground stuff,” Elkin said. “I have other tools that I plan to implement, but closing the distance is one of them.”
Watch the video above to hear more from Shields and Elkin ahead of 2021 PFL 4.