Late last year, the MMA world received great news when it was revealed that Olympic gold medalist and boxing champion Claressa Shields had signed with the PFL. Shields has since begun her BJJ journey to ensure that her MMA game is well rounded, joining Jackson Wink MMA to improve her skills both on her feet and on the ground.
Shields recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience to talk about her transition to MMA, and of course, Rogan took the opportunity to ask her about how her BJJ classes have been going. In what is perhaps no great surprise to anyone, Shields finds boxing easier than grappling, but she also says that she’s been having fun developing her ground game.
As to whether or not we’ll soon see her competing in jiu-jitsu, the answer, at least for now, is a ‘no.’ Shields is learning jiu-jitsu specifically for MMA purposes, and ever the competitive athlete, she remains focused on her goals. Still, we can’t help but be hopeful that we’ll get to see her put her jiu-jitsu skills into action in a grappling-focused competition someday.
You can check out part of the interview below:
The post Claressa Shields Talks About Learning Jiu-Jitsu: “It’s Not Easy, But It’s Fun” appeared first on Jiu-Jitsu Times.