Boxing star Claressa Shields was in attendance to watch that bout and not she is returning the favor to the two division UFC champion.
“It was great for Claressa to go see Amanda fight live and that created a lot of interest,” Shield’s manager in Dmitriy Salita told MMA Junkie. “We’d like to invite Amanda to Claressa’s next fight, which is going to be on Jan. 10. Hopefully she can show up and see Claressa first hand. It’s a work in progress – the media is interested, the fans are interested and, from the feedback we’ve received from multiple media sources, you can see how many people will write about it.”
Nunes has yet to respond to the invite from Shields and Salita as of this writing.
Shields has expressed interest in facing Nunes in the Octagon, but Salita says that she will need some time to properly transition from boxing to MMA.
“Obviously, Amanda said what she said about fighting Claressa in a UFC fight but here’s the big difference,” Salita said. “There is no part of boxing that involves wrestling, that involves grappling. A big part of the UFC is striking, and Amanda is one of the best, if not the best, striker in the women’s game. So Amanda will be in her territory being a striker fighting another striker in Claressa. In the UFC, it wouldn’t really be Claressa’s territory because she has no experience in grappling, that type of grappling or kicking or any of that stuff.”
UFC President Dana White also spoke with Shields about crossing over to the UFC, with White saying that there is a possibility that it happens.
