Claressa Shields Claims She’s Doing MMA Training With Jon Jones In February

Claressa Shields is serious about embarking on a career in mixed martial arts (MMA).

Shields has been adamant about securing a potential fight with current UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes – whether it be in boxing or MMA. Nunes has made it clear she doesn’t want to box, but is more than willing to fight Shields in MMA if the opportunity presents itself.

It looks like Shields is trying to make that happen, as she tells BJPenn.com in a recent interview that she’ll be doing MMA training with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in February.

“I’m starting my training this year, 2020,” Shields said. “I’ve been able to catch on to things very fast, learn and I’ve had some great people who have reached out to me. I’ll be going to camp with Jon Jones, I believe, at the end of February just to see if I can get into the whole training thing and do what he does because he’s so great. I’m looking forward to it.

“I’ve already had my wrestling done with Adaline Gray who was an Olympic wrestler, multiple time world champion wrestler. We did some work together and she was shocked at how quick I caught on to landing a takedown and avoiding a takedown. She was putting everything in my head right there and I thought it would be the worst training ever because I hate when people grab me — just in boxing, being a boxer you want to be free and loose to punch — but when we were working, I wasn’t irritated when she was grabbing me.

“If you teach me how to have some defense, and how I can get the takedown myself, I’m perfectly fine. I don’t like going into anything blind. I learned a lot and I have plenty of video in case I forget, but I’m ready to get super consistent with it.”

Nunes comes off of a successful bantamweight title defense over Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245. Now, she has become the first champion in UFC history to have defended each title successfully after becoming a two-division champion. Perhaps she’ll get the opportunity to face an Olympic boxer as well.

What do you think about Shields training with Jones in February?