PFL President Ray Sefo was impressed with last month's mixed martial arts debut by three division world champion Claressa Shields.

Shields, who also captured two Olympic gold medals, stopped Brittney Elkin in the third round.

But for the first two rounds, Elkin was able to get Shields to the ground and there was several threatening moments where Elkin was attempting to end the fight with various submissions.

Shields, who admitted she was likely down on the cards, closed the show in the third and final round - by stuffing a takedown attempt and then battering Elkin with punches until the fight was stopped.

Shields is not planning to waste any time. Her next MMA contest is expected to take place in the coming months.

“I thought she was very composed,” Sefo said to MMA Fighting. “In the first round I was a little bit concerned, but in the second round she showed a lot more [composure] and the way that she dealt with being on the bottom. Obviously her coaches, [Mike] Winkeljohn and Greg Jackson both told her you’ve got to go out there and go for gold.

“The thing that was more impressive was that she actually won the fight on the ground rather than standing on her feet, where she was able to control Brittney and being heavy on top and ground and pound.

“Is there still a lot to learn? 100 percent, there’s still a lot to learn. In terms of how she pulled through, I was impressed not only that she was so determined that the fight wasn’t going to end but if she was going to win or lose, she was going to make sure that she was going to give it a fight.”