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The noted current UFC heavyweight champ, Jon Jones, comes from a truly unique kind of family. Most UFC fans know that Jon’s two siblings, Chandler and Arthur, have also reached the apex level in their respective sports. Both of them are famous NFL stars who have also won the coveted Superbowl for their sides. But the Jones brothers are far from being the only ones with sports in their genes. The noted Diaz brothers are another such pair of siblings in the world of MMA. Both of them, Nick and Nate, have fought for multiple MMA promotions in the world and made themselves huge names in the sport. A lot of fans might not know that the upcoming UFC Fight Night 227 main eventer, Valentina Shevchenko, also belongs to the same category.

Valentina likes keeping her public interviews mostly about her fights. She hasn’t talked about her elder sister, Antonina Shevchenko, in most of them to date. But only a small portion of UFC fans might know that she also fights in the Flyweight division like her younger sister, ‘Bullet’. Hence, let’s dive a bit deeper today to know a bit more about the former UFC Flyweight champ, Valentina Shevchenko’s elder sister, Antonina.

Antonina Shevchenko’s MMA Record and UFC career

Comparing the fame of the Shevchenko sisters among the UFC community will be enough for the fans to realize which of them sits at the top. While a significant part of the UFC community considers Valentina to be one of the greatest female fighters in MMA, a lot of them are probably unaware of the fact that she even has a sister who is also into the sport.

However, reports say that Antonina started off her professional MMA career way back in 2002. The ’38-year-old’ also stayed undefeated for her first seven professional fights. Notably, she fought the last two of these under the banner of the UFC. ‘La Pantera’ (The Panther) competed at the finale of the 2018 Dana White Contender Series in her sixth professional bout. A victory in it also earned her a free pass into the UFC.

Following this, she also fought at the finale of TUF 28 and achieved a victory as well. But her next opponent, Roxanne Modafferi, demolished her perfect 7-0 run, defeating her via a split decision after all three rounds of the bout. Despite getting back to a win in her next bout, she lost the next two of them. Currently, ‘the 38-year-old’ holds a pretty average UFC record of 4-4-0. But it improves drastically to 10-4-0 if we consider her entire career in professional MMA.

Antonina Shevchenko’s fighting background

Reports say that ‘La Pantera’ has been into martial arts since seven years of age, along with her younger sister Valentina. She adopted Muay Thai as her primary martial art. Talking about her training, she was accompanied by her younger sister in most of her initial training sessions. Valentina has mostly trained in the same facility alongside Antonina in her initial years.

Reports also say that she has trained in kickboxing for quite some time. Antonina even left professional MMA for a prolonged span of 12 years due to her affinity towards kickboxing and Muay Thai. Reports also say that she competed in 40 professional Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts till 2017.

Despite her pretty average UFC record, ‘Bullet’s elder sister’ boasts a startling 39-1 record in those 40 professional fights. However, she made a return to professional MMA at the end of 2017 and since then hasn’t competed in kickboxing or Muay Thai anymore.

When did Antonina Shevchenko and Valentina Shevchenko fight on the same UFC card?

Although there was a time when both the Diaz brothers, Nick and Nate, were in the UFC, they never fought on the same card. But the Shevchenko sisters stand as the only siblings in the UFC who have achieved this feat. Both Antonina and Valentina fought at UFC 255 which was held on 21 November 2020. Further, it turned out to be a memorable occasion for them after both of them got the better of their respective opponents.

The elder sister, Antonina, took the cage first as she was placed under the prelim fights of the night. She defeated her rival, Ariane Lipski, via a TKO in the second round of the bout. Later, the ‘Bullet’ also got the better of her rival, Jennifer Maia, and earned her fourth consecutive title defense. The sisters must be proud of themselves to achieve such a unique feat.

What does Antonina Shevchenko do apart from MMA?

Well, Antonina Shevchenko has given an entirely new meaning to the term ‘Fighter Pilot’. Generally, it is used to designate someone who has expertise in flying a fighter aircraft. However, Antonina can also be called a ‘Fighter Pilot’ since she is a combination of both professions. In an interview with ‘Skies Magazine,’ she has revealed how she wanted to fly since her childhood.

Antonina enlightened her hopes of flying once more when she traveled to the USA after bagging a UFC contract in 2019. She also purchased a Cessna 172K (an aircraft primarily used for training commercial pilots) in the same year and started training for a commercial license. Remarkably, she completed her IFR and commercial license all while she was still training for her UFC fights.

Today, even after several successful flights, Antonina still holds an attitude to learn and prosper even more as a professional career pilot. Her 4-4 UFC record might portray her as a pretty average MMA fighter. But, there won’t be many doubting the fact that she has won life.

Lastly, looking at ‘La Pantera’s relationship status, it’s pertinent to note that a number of sources identify Antonina as a married individual. Reportedly, she is married to her longtime coach, Pavel Fedotov, although nothing can be surely said about her current relationship status. Hence, it’s quite apparent that there are no credible sources that can provide documentable information related to this issue.

Were you aware of ‘Bullet’s’ elder sister’s feats prior to this? What is your opinion about her?

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