Cris Cyborg read Claressa Shields complaining about a rejected seven-figure offer and decided to bring receipts, or at least her version of them. On Saturday she fired off a two-line post on X:
Claressa mad the number 2 boxer in the world turned down her $1.1M
….I offered Claressa double that fight purse
View post on X
Do the math and Cyborg is saying she put roughly $2.2 million on the table for Shields. She didn’t name the boxer who passed on the $1.1 million. She also didn’t say when her own offer was made or who carried it. Nothing in the public record backs up the figure, so for now it’s Cyborg’s claim and only hers.
The timing is interesting. The same day, Chantelle Cameron told MiddleEasy that changes in negotiations have stalled talks for a fight with Shields, though Cameron said she still wants it. Cyborg’s post doesn’t mention Cameron, and nothing in the sources ties the $1.1 million figure to those talks.
Cyborg has standing to talk money. She’s the current and inaugural PFL women’s featherweight champion and a former champion in the UFC, Strikeforce, Invicta FC and Bellator, which makes her the only fighter to hold titles across five major MMA promotions. She owns the record for most wins by a woman in MMA and was the first woman to reach 30. She boxes too, and currently holds the WIBA light middleweight title.
Shields sits at the top of the women’s boxing pile. She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has won 20 major world titles across five weight classes, including the undisputed light middleweight title in March 2021 and the undisputed heavyweight crown from 2025 to 2026. ESPN ranked her the best female boxer of the 21st century in July 2024. She also went 2-1 in the PFL between 2021 and 2024 before retiring from MMA.
That overlap makes Cyborg against Shields a real fight on paper. Both have worked inside the PFL cage, both box, and Cyborg’s current belt sits at a weight where Shields was once undisputed. A boxing match at 154 pounds is the obvious version.
The ball is in Shields’ court. If Cyborg’s number is real and Shields is publicly frustrated that someone else walked away from half of it, she’s going to get asked about this post every time a microphone shows up.
