Roxanne Modafferi was a moderate betting underdog heading into her featured flyweight title with previously-unbeaten Antonina Shevchenko on Saturday, but she came out of the skirmish triumphant.
Modafferi, one of the pioneers of women’s MMA, withstood quite a few clean punches to the face and several kicks to the legs and body from “Pantera” and stuck to her game plan. “The Happy Warrior” appeared to be rocked by a few punches from Shevchenko, a multiple-time world champion in muay Thai, but once the American was able to get inside, Shevchenko became the victim.
“The fight went how my coach said it would, so I listened to his game plan,” Modafferi said after her win.