UFC flyweight Antonina Shevchenko announces MMA retirement to focus on aviation

Antonina Shevchenko is done fighting professionally.

Antonina, older sister of UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, announced her decision to hang up the gloves in a lengthy Instagram post Thursday. This decision comes nearly three years after her last UFC outing.

“Dear friends!,” Antonina wrote. “I didn’t have the opportunity to leave my gloves in the octagon by tradition, I didn’t think my fight in UFC in 2022 would be the last. I am leaving my gloves in this post. 30 years in sport, black belt 3rd dan in Taekwondo, 11 World Champion titles in Muay Thai, Kickboxing and MMA. More than 400 fights in amateurs and professionals, Asian and South American Champion, UFC fighter.

“This is how I finish my career in professional sport.
Of course, martial arts continue to be a big part of my life but in a different way. It’s time to be focused on the next page – my career as a pilot.”

Antonina, 40, last fought in July 2022 when she defeated Cortney Casey in a split decision at a UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas.

Antonina entered the UFC as an undefeated fighter in 2018, and with much media attention, given her sister’s decorated career in the UFC. During her four-year run with the UFC, she went 4-4 and picked up two $50,000 bonuses – one for Fight of the Night and the other for Performance of the Night.