Undisputed boxing world champion Claressa Shields secured her second victory in MMA after a split decision win over Kelsey De Santis in Riyadh.

The fight made history as the first professional MMA bout in Saudi Arabia featuring two women.

Shields, a three-weight world champion in boxing, was visibly emotionally when she was confirmed the winner.

“There was days in camp where I was literally in tears. I didn’t want to go back because it was so hard,” she said.

The MMA event came 18 months after British fighter Ramla Ali and the Dominican Republic’s Crystal Garcia Nova became the first female boxers to compete in a pro fight in the kingdom.

Shields was competing on the undercard of the Professional Fighters League’s champion versus champion event, in which Bellator’s best compete against the PFL’s best.

Women’s rights continues to be a major issue in the country despite recent reforms, and human rights groups continue to say sport as a whole is being used by the Saudi government to distract from long-standing reputation issues and accuse it of sportswashing by investing in high-profile events.