Savannah Marshall dazzled on her MMA debut as she stopped Mirela Vargas in a frantic first spherical at PFL Europe in Newcastle on Saturday evening.
Marshall was competing within the cage for the primary time having made a step throughout to MMA after defeating Franchon Crews-Dezurn to develop into undisputed super-middleweight boxing champion in July final yr.
An early acid take a look at arrived within the type of a number of takedowns, from which Marshall recovered fantastically to showcase her abilities as one of many fiercest punchers in feminine boxing.
Marshall remained calm within the face of some troublesome early leg kicks, demonstrating her coaching alongside UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to get again to her ft easily.
Her knockout exploits would quickly show an excessive amount of for Vargas as she unleashed a vicious flurry of photographs that pressured the referee to convey the competition to a halt.
With long-time boxing rival Claressa Shields in attendance, Marshall wasted no time in reiterating her intentions to satisfy the American within the PFL.
“Are we getting it on in the cage or what?” Marshall stated. “Let’s do it. Full MMA rules. Let’s go!”
Shields beat Marshall through unanimous determination when the 2 headlined the UK’s first televised all-female boxing card at The O2 in October 2022.
It capped a fiery build-up stemming from Marshall’s victory over Shields within the novice ranks, which stays the latter’s solely profession boxing defeat thus far.
Shields herself made the choice to dip her toes on this planet of MMA when she made her PFL debut in 2021, since which she has amassed a file of 2-1.
Marshall weathered an early storm to overpower Vargas
She is now scheduled to make her return in boxing by difficult Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse for the WBC heavyweight title in Detroit on July 27, setting her sights on turning into a four-weight world champion.
Marshall’s debut comes after simply 9 months of coaching in MMA, the 33-year-old not shying from repeatedly admitting that the prospect of dealing with Shields was a significant factor in her determination to step throughout.
“These MMA fighters, you’ve got to be a little bit crazy to do this,” stated Marshall.
“I’ve loved it, fight week, the training, the MMA community has welcomed me with open arms. It’s a tough sport and I take my hat off to anyone who does it.”
