Lion Fight’s Antonina Shevchenko Has No Plans to Join Sister in UFC

Antonina Shevchenko knew at a young age that she was going to be a fighter. So much so that she eventually not only began training in muay Thai and other forms of the martial arts, she actually became the first woman to ever graduate from the University of Kyrgyzstan with a degree in Western Boxing.

So far her decision to follow her dreams has paid off, as Shevchenko has already captured a handful of championships in muay Thai and on Friday night, she hopes to add the Lion Fight women’s lightweight crown to her collection.

Shevchenko is set to face tough Brit Annabelle Gely in one of the featured bouts of the evening, which goes down inside Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. AXS-TV will televise the main card, which goes live starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. In Gely, the Russian fighter says she knows what to expect and she welcomes the challenge.

“She’s from England and I know there are some great muay Thai schools in England,” Shevchenko told Sherdog.com in a recent interview. “She fights in a traditional Thai style and she’s very tough. She uses many elbows, knees and clinches but I prepare for my own strategy for this fight.

“She does clinching, of course,” she added. “She likes to use her elbows and knees in the clinch and that’s where she is the most dangerous. I don’t think she does very well at a distance, though. I am not saying she is bad at a distance, but I see her always coming forward and looking to clinch. I don’t have a problem doing clinching, though, because I like it, too.

Shevchenko moved from her native Kyrgyzstan to Peru several years ago with her sister Valentina, who is making a name for herself in MMA while fighting for the UFC. Antonina Shevchenko, who speaks fluent Russian, Spanish and almost-fluent English, is confident that her sister will prevail against Holly Holm when she fights at UFC on Fox 20 in a few weeks.

“It’s going to be a hard fight for both of them because they are two strong world champions,” she said. “But Valentina trains very hard and she is motivated for this fight and she looks very good. She is doing 100 percent in everything she trains: muay Thai, wrestling, grappling. Wherever this fight goes, she will be ready for what Holly does.”

But with both women already achieving terrific success in muay Thai and with Valentina already fighting a former world champion in octagon, does Antonina have any desire to return to MMA?

“I did that many years ago,” she admitted. “But I prefer to strike so I think I will stay fighting in muay Thai. I don’t think I’ll try to be in the UFC.”