Joe Rogan Experience #1619 - Claressa Shields
Joe Rogan (host), Claressa Shields (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Claressa Shields, Joe Rogan Experience #1619 - Claressa Shields explores claressa Shields Details Bold Transition From Boxing Dominance To MMA Stardom Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed boxing champion, discusses her decision to pursue MMA while remaining active in boxing. She explains how lack of promotion and pay equity in women’s boxing pushed her to explore new opportunities with the PFL and a potential future super-fight with Kayla Harrison. Shields breaks down her early MMA training at Jackson Wink, her approach to learning grappling and kicks, and how she structures recovery and strength work around knowing her own body. The conversation also explores double standards in women’s sports, promoter politics, and the mental toughness and individuality required to be a true champion.
Claressa Shields Details Bold Transition From Boxing Dominance To MMA Stardom
Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed boxing champion, discusses her decision to pursue MMA while remaining active in boxing. She explains how lack of promotion and pay equity in women’s boxing pushed her to explore new opportunities with the PFL and a potential future super-fight with Kayla Harrison. Shields breaks down her early MMA training at Jackson Wink, her approach to learning grappling and kicks, and how she structures recovery and strength work around knowing her own body. The conversation also explores double standards in women’s sports, promoter politics, and the mental toughness and individuality required to be a true champion.
Key Takeaways
Shields is pursuing MMA to test her greatness, not because boxing isn’t working.
Despite having ‘cleared out’ multiple divisions in boxing, she views MMA as a new arena to prove whether she’s truly as great as she believes, aiming to become champion in both sports simultaneously.
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Lack of equitable promotion and pay in women’s boxing is a major driver of her move.
She cites examples where her TV ratings surpassed male headliners who earned many times her purse, and points to unequal promotion windows and marketing as structural problems holding women’s boxing back.
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Shields treats her MMA transition with humility and seriousness, not arrogance.
Training at Jackson Wink since December, she started on the ground, focuses heavily on defense, jiu-jitsu for MMA, and live simulations, and rejects the idea of jumping straight into super-fights without proper skill development.
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Knowing and protecting her body is central to her training philosophy.
She opposes “break them down to build them up” coaching, recounts refusing dangerous overtraining sprints at the Olympic Training Center, and prioritizes recovery with ice baths, massage, yoga, and careful strength work.
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Promotion and storytelling, not just skill, drive how stars are made in combat sports.
Shields notes how men are routinely built on major undercards while women rarely get those slots, how having visible big paydays increases fan interest, and how she feels responsible to speak up on “micro” inequities like commercial spots and All-Access shows.
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Champions require individualized coaching, not one-size-fits-all methods.
She compares learning fighters to learning children, arguing some need conversation rather than yelling or punishment, and explains that coaches who treat every athlete the same often clash with self-driven elite performers.
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The mental side—confidence, handling haters, and loneliness at the top—is as real as the physical.
Shields is candid about reading comments, using doubters for motivation, feeling that “it’s lonely at the top,” and seeking an inner circle of other champions who understand her standards and intensity.
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Notable Quotes
“Five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.”
— Claressa Shields
“I’m venturing off into MMA because I really wanna see, ‘Am I as great as I think I am?’”
— Claressa Shields
“You have to learn fighters like you learn your children.”
— Claressa Shields
“If boxing gave me the recognition that I get doing MMA, I would just do boxing.”
— Claressa Shields
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
How far can Claressa Shields realistically go in MMA if she splits time with boxing instead of committing full-time?
Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed boxing champion, discusses her decision to pursue MMA while remaining active in boxing. ...
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What concrete changes would major boxing broadcasters and promoters need to make for women’s boxing purses and visibility to approach parity with men’s?
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How much of a champion’s success is innate mindset versus environment and coaching, based on the way Shields describes her youth and coaches?
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Could a super-fight between Claressa Shields and Kayla Harrison draw mainstream attention comparable to major men’s title fights if promoted correctly?
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Is it possible to maintain Claressa’s level of emotional intensity and high standards in personal relationships without constantly feeling “lonely at the top”?
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Transcript Preview
(drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. Welcome. What's happening? How are you?
I'm good. How are you, Joe?
Wonderful. It's a pleasure to get to meet you and to have you on here. I'm a big fan.
Thank you.
You, uh, in a young life, you have accomplished incredible things.
Mm-hmm.
Like, for people that don't know, you won an Olympic gold medal at 17.
Mm-hmm.
And then you won it again four years later.
Yep. Two-time Olympic gold medalist.
The only American boxer ever.
Yes.
I think, like, only another sp-... Like, no boxer's ever done that, right, in America?
No, just... No, not from America. Just me.
And, uh, I mean, you've gone multiple weight classes, and now you're considering fighting in MMA. I mean, you, you kind of cleared out boxing in a lot of ways.
It's always something more to be accomplished-
Yeah.
... in boxing. But I'm venturing off into MMA because I really wanna see, "Am I as great as I think I am?" And I think I am, so I'm excited to be fighting with the PFL later on this year and just, um, taking it from there and seeing what happens.
Well, I think, uh, when someone is as good as you are at boxing, you could basically do anything you want in life.
Mm-hmm.
You just have to put the same amount of focus that you put on boxing to whatever it is-
Smart man.
... that you apply yourself to.
Yeah.
You know? There's rare human beings that can do what you've been able to do. It's a rare person.
Five Ps.
Five Ps?
Proper preparation prevents poor performance.
There you go.
So in MMA, I'm not coming over like, "Hey, I'm in boxing. I'm gonna box all you girls up." It's like, "I'm at Jackson Wing Gym, you know, with Coach Jackson, Coach Wing. I'm training."
I was... I've seen you kick a bag. I've seen you throw kicks. I was very impressed. I can't believe you're already that good.
(laughs)
It's real. I was like, "Wow, maybe she put..." You were throwing high kicks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I didn't know my leg can go up that high till they showed me the technique of it, and I was like, "Whoa, this shit's insane."
D- do you stretch all the time? Are you a person who... Like, when you were boxing, I mean, I know most athletes stretch, but having a full split is not, uh, really ne-... It's not really required to punch people.
No.
Do you... But you obviously have very flexible legs.
I've been doing yoga for the past few months.
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