Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi, 36, of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 149.” It was her first victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Featuring 11 mixed martial arts matches, “UFC Fight Night 149” took place at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia on April 20, 2019. In the eighth bout of the evening, Modafferi fought Antonina “The Panther” Shevchenko, 34, of Kyrgyzstan and Peru in the women’s flyweight division.
Marc Goddard served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the women’s flyweight bout was left in the hands of the judges namely Mark Collett, Howard Hughes and Maria Makhmutova.
Both Collett and Hughes scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Modafferi while Makhmutova scored in 28-29 in favor of Shevchenko. In the end, Goddard raised the hand of the American contender, who was declared the winner via split deision.
Winning at “UFC Fight Night 149” improved Modafferi’s professional MMA record to 23 wins and 15 losses. On the other hand, Shevchenko now has 7 wins and 1 loss.
“UFC Fight Night 149” marked Modafferi’s second UFC bout. It was the promotional debut of Shevchenko, who was born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan but immigrated to Lima, Peru with her sister, reigning UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko, 31.
At “UFC Fight Night 149,” Modaferri solely represented the U.S. while Antonina was the only representative of Peru and one of the two representatives of Kyrgyzstan. Brazil, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. were also represented.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, USA on September 24, 1982, Modaferri trained taekwondo, karate and judo when she was young. After high school, she trained at a Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu association in Adams, Massachusetts, USA.
As an MMA fighter, Modaferri has been competing professionally since 2003. She joined the UFC in 2018.
When Modaferri made her UFC debut at “UFC 230” at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA on November 3, 2018, she lost via unanimous decision to Sijara “Sarj” Eubanks, 33, of Maryland, USA. Meanwhile, here is Modaferri and a young student:
CONAN Daily 