By the Numbers: Antonina Shevchenko vs. Lucie Pudilova

Mark RaymundoAug 01, 2019


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After getting outworked by Roxanne Modafferi at UFC Fight Night 149, Tiger Muay Thai’s Antonina Shevchenko is back to face the young and dangerous Lucie Pudilova. The Czech is coming off two close decision losses and is eager to bounce back. They come to blows on Aug. 3 at UFC on ESPN 5. Below are some numbers significant to their upcoming bout.

Age and overall experience

Shevchenko is now 34 and will celebrate her 35th birthday on Nov. 20, 1984. Pudilova, on the other hand, turned 25 on June 13.

The elder sister of Valentina Shevchenko started her mixed martial arts career as far back as 2002 and fought three times until 2005, displaying her skills in Kyrgyztan and South Korea. After that, Shevchenko focused on kickboxing. She returned to MMA competition 12 years later and fought at Phoenix Fighting Championship in the UK and Dubai. Before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she now has a record of 1-1, “Pantera” turned heads at Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series with her brutal TKO of Bellator MMA veteran Jaimelene Nievera. Her overall record is 7-1.

KBC-Pribram MMA’s Pudilova debuted on Feb. 14, 2014 and won three straight before losing to Lina Lansberg at a regional event in Sweden. She fought for different promotions before getting signed by the UFC, where she was welcomed by a familiar opponent in Lansberg, who defeated her again. “Bullet” went on to record a 2-3 ledger in the UFC and 8-4 overall.

Height, arm and leg reach

Pudilova and Shevchenko both stand at 5’8” and likewise, have an identical arm reach of 67”. They differ in leg reach, which is 42” for Pudilova and 41” for Shevchenko. Both of them have been making good use of their length inside the cage.

Wins by stoppage

Shevchenko is a K-1 veteran with a professional kickboxing record of 39-1. Her rich striking experience translated well into MMA as evidenced by her current record. Two of her seven wins have come by knockout. These are against Anara Bayanova and Jaimelene Nievera.

Pudilova is the more dynamic fighter, having scored four stoppages: two by knockout and two by submission. She starched Lenka Smetankova and Julija Stoliarenko and tapped out Eeva Siiskonen and Alexandra Buch.

Striking accuracy

After five Octagon appearances, Pudilova has landed a total of 365 significant strikes out of 941 attempts. That makes for a 39 percent striking accuracy. Shevchenko, for her part, owns a 49 percent striking accuracy, having connected 66 out of the 134 significant strikes she has thrown in UFC competition.

Takedown accuracy

Shevchenko has so far been perfect in her takedowns, landing two out of two. While she has a 100 percent takedown accuracy, her opponent in Pudilova has yet to complete one takedown after three attempts.

Career losses

Pudilova dropped four of her 12 professional bouts. She bowed to quality opponents namely, Liz Carmouche, Irene Aldana and Lansberg twice. All were by decision. As for Shevchenko, her first loss didn’t come until recently when she dropped a split decision to Modafferi.