Claressa Shields signs multi-year deal with PFL for MMA bouts

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FILE -Claressa Shields, top, punches Brittney Elkin during a Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts bout in Atlantic City, N.J., early Friday, June 11, 2021. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights. Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

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FILE - Claressa Shields reacts after winning a Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts bout against Brittney Elkin in Atlantic City, N.J., on June 11, 2021. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights. Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

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FILE - Claressa Shields, right, faces off with Brittney Elkin during a Professional Fighters League mixed martial arts bout in Atlantic City, N.J., early Friday, June 11, 2021. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights. Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

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FILE - Claressa Shields poses with her prize belts after an interview, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Detroit. Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights. Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields is returning for another round of MMA fights.

Shields and the Professional Fighters League announced a multi-year agreement on Wednesday and she expects to enter the cage again in 2024 at 158 pounds. The undisputed middleweight boxing champion went 1-1 in the PFL in 2021, but is widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound female boxer.

“All my fans, y’all have been asking me, when are you getting back to MMA, when are you getting back in the cage,” Shields said in a video posted on social media. “Well, here you go. Me and the PFL have signed a great seven-figure deal.”

Shields is 14-0 with two knockouts as a pro boxer, including a unanimous decision over Maricela Cornejo in June.

“It is a privilege to announce the PFL has re-signed the most dominant women’s boxer in the world, Claressa Shields, to a new multi-year agreement,” said Peter Murray, CEO of the Professional Fighters League.

The PFL announced a week earlier the signing of Amanda Serrano, the undisputed featherweight boxing champion. Serrano has a 2-0-1 MMA record, with both wins by submission.

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