Video: Savannah Marshall delivers vicious TKO in MMA debut, squares off with Claressa Shields | PFL Newcastle

Former world boxing champion Savannah Marshall made a successful mixed martial arts (MMA) debut earlier today (Sat., June 8, 2024) at PFL Europe 2 live on DAZN from inside Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England, stopping Mirela Vargas with a vicious first-round TKO (punches).

Marshall, who was given a main event bid despite never competing in MMA before, has made a name for herself in the world of boxing. The former WBO female middleweight champion turned in a 13-1 professional record and three successful title defenses over the course of six years. Her only loss came at the hands of a boxing great, Claressa Shields, via decision back in 2022.

Needless to say, the combat community was very interested to see how Marshall looked crossing over from the ring to the cage.

In the beginning, Marshall didn’t look completely comfortable. Vargas landed a few hard leg kicks that dropped the former boxer to a knee. Marshall would give into some pretty basic takedown attempts as well, but she did escape dangerous positions and returned to her feet every time. This allowed her to win the war of attrition and start to land big shots.

Vargas, who was relatively inexperienced coming into this fight as well, stood no chance once Marshall got her striking going. The power was significant and the punches really started to wear down Vargas. Marshall’s efforts eventually forced the referee to take a good look at the action and step in before the first round came to a close.

Check out the video highlights below along with Marshall’s post-fight faceoff with the aforementioned Shields:

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