Katlyn Chookagian earned one of the most dominant wins of her career, scoring a lopsided decision victory over Antonina Shevchenko at UFC Vegas.
While both athletes downplayed the connection during Fight Week, there was something poetic about Katlyn Chookagian fighting Antonina Shevchenko at UFC Vegas. Antonina, of course, is the older sister of UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. Chookagian, meanwhile, was the last woman to face Valentina, back at UFC 247 in February.
That fight did not go her way. UFC Vegas offered a chance for revenge, of sorts, against the other Shevchenko sister.
Shevchenko and Chookagian opened the fight by trading kicks. Shevchenko threw two kicks in a row to the body, and the last one was caught by Chookagian. Chookagian took Shevchenko down and got her back, then began to look for the choke. Shevchenko fought off the choke once before Chookagian got the body lock and began to look for a submission once again. Shevchenko would fight out of it again, and Chookagian started landing some big ground and pound from the mount. Shevchenko would give up her back, and Chookagian would once again rain down with blows. Shevchenko would fight back to her feet to end the fight standing after a brutal first round.
Katlyn Chookagian would quickly close the distance in the second round, get the takedown and end up in the mount. Shevchenko would do her best to hold on to Chookagian, but Chookagian would still rain down some blows from the mount. Shevchenko would give up her back briefly and eat some huge punches before letting Chookagian have the mount again. Chookagian would start landing some massive elbows from the mount that would send us to round three.
Instead of opting to take the fight to the ground at the start of round three, Chookagian decided to trade on the feet. Shevchenko was clearly getting the better of the exchanges on the feet, as her hands still looked crisp despite the beating she took in rounds one and two. Chookagian quickly went for a takedown but was shrugged off, however, she would land a hard right hand that got Shevchenko’s attention. Chookagian would then capitalize by pushing Shevchenko into the fence and looking for the clinch, but Shevchenko would shrug her off. Chookagian would soon get the takedown and the mount once again. Ending the fight in dominating fashion, as she rained down strikes looking for the finish.
Icing on the cake! 🎂@BlondeFighter just put on a clinic to win by UD!#UFCVegas continues on @ESPN and E+ pic.twitter.com/lQt1upyTW5
— UFC (@ufc) May 31, 2020
The end result, a rare 30-25 on all three judge’s scorecards.
Official Result: Katlyn Chookagian def. Antonina Shevchenko by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)
