Claressa Shields continues to find compelling challenges to be matched against. Unfortunately for boxing fans, that statement is only true in mixed martial arts.

The women’s undisputed middleweight boxing champion returned to MMA for the first time in over two years on Saturday, defeating Kelsey DeSantis by split decision in a Professional Fighters League 165-pound bout in Saudi Arabia. Two judges scored the fight for her, 29-28, while the third had the same score for her opponent.

The bout, which was the first women’s MMA fight in Saudi Arabia, looked like it could end in the first round as the 28-year-old Shields was nearly forced to submit after DeSantis locked her in an armbar. The 28-year-old Shields bounced back strongly in the second round, thanks in large part to her far superior striking skills. Shields rocked DeSantis at the end of the second with right hands to the body and head along the cage and then stared her opponent down as she went back to her corner.

DeSantis, 35, of Miami, Fla. wasn’t going away so easily. She took Shields down midway through the final round, nearly wrapping on a rear naked choke before Shields was able to flip to her back.

Afterwards, Shields broke down in tears as she discussed how difficult her preparations were.

“It's not easy what I'm trying to do and I've been so respectful of the sport and I put in a lot of hard work for this,” said the two-time Olympic boxing gold medalist from Flint, Mich.

“I almost got my arm snapped in the freakin' armbar, had to fight out of that. I couldn’t quite figure it all the way out the third round but I know I had a strong first round and I definitely had a hard second and I won the beginning of the third round.”

The fight was Shields’ first since October of 2021, when she lost a split decision to Abigail Montes. She improves to 2-1 in MMA, while DeSantis drops to 1-3.

Shields’ last boxing fight was last June, when she shut out Maricela Cornejo in Detroit.