Claressa Shields to face Abigail Montes in October 27th MMA return

It won’t be as quick a turnaround as previously reported, but Claressa Shields is officially set to return to the MMA cage. Professional Fighters League confirmed on Twitter that “T-Rex” will face 2-0 Abigail Montes on their October 27th championship event.

Mexico’s Montes, 21, has beaten two debuting opponents thus far in her career. Footage of her most recent fight in April shows some decent kickboxing and ground skills; nothing spectacular, but definitely enough to make this a risky endeavor for Shields (11-0, 2 KO Boxing, 1-0 MMA), who needed a comeback TKO to get past Brittney Elkin in her June debut.

While I don’t see her having anywhere near as bright a future in MMA as in boxing, I definitely respect Shields’ willingness to test herself. Montes is far from a gimme, and if she finds herself in the same dominant positions Elkin enjoyed, her ground-and-pound is strong enough to put the “GWOAT” away.