Prediction for the fight Antonina Shevchenko vs Casey O'Neill

The honor of opening the first October UFC tournament fell to the girls from the lightest weight category - Antonina Shevchenko, and the Australian undefeated athlete, Casey O'Neill, who train in the same club - Tiger Muay Thai. “Panther” got into a very difficult situation due to defeats to all top rivals, and now they shouldn't think about getting to the top of the division.

But Casey, on the contrary, only this year broke into the promotion, and has already won important victories for herself. Their meeting will take place in Las Vegas, under the banner of the UFC Vegas 38 tournament, or as it is numbered at the official level - UFC Fight Night 193. Which of the ladies has more chances of triumph in this fight, and what is the balance of power for this pair - we will analyze in forecast.

• Antonina Shevchenko vs Casey O'Neill;
• Antonina Shevchenko;
• Casey O'Neill;
• Comparative analysis;
• Game Totals Prediction.

Antonina Shevchenko vs Casey O'Neill

Antonina Shevchenko

A native of Kyrgyzstan was initially considered the future top of the lightest division due to her past achievements in Muay Thai. She several times became the winner of the World Championships (IFMA) in this type of martial arts, was the winner of the World Cup, and also took first place in the national taekwondo championship. As a result, her professional record consists of 39 wins and 1 loss. In mixed martial arts, Shevchenko did not achieve such impressive results, but it is worth noting that in recent years she had to compete exclusively against the strongest rivals.

Strengths

It is obvious that striking technique is Antonina's strong point. She actively throws punches (about 4 punches per minute), moves well and does not miss a lot. Thanks to the past in Muay Thai, "Panther" perfectly penetrates the opponent's body, skillfully combining such attacks with transfers to the head. In three-round fights with drummers Shevchenko shows himself from the best side.

Weaknesses

From the above plus, the main disadvantage of the athlete follows - a weak parterre and protection from transfers. She manages to stop a little more than half of the takedowns, but in the work from the back, Antonina is frankly weak. Positional wrestling, sweeps, and blocking attacks from this position is her kryptonite.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Shevchenko is 36 years old and, despite the fact that she burst into MMA, after a long break, only in 2017, we can state the fact - we are watching the decline of her career. Three defeats in the last 5 fights, in fights with Kathleen Chukagian, Andrea Lee (the last fight, which took place on May 15) and Roxanne Modafferi, just because of Shevchenko's low level in the stalls, threw her far from the TOP-15, and even a victory over Lucy Pudilova and Ariani Lipski, do not testify to the competitiveness of Panther.

Casey O'Neill

The athlete with the nickname "Queen" entered the UFC family in February of this year, and so far she has a minimum of achievements in mixed martial arts. She started with kickboxing, then switched to BJJ, and at the age of 15 she began performing among amateurs in MMA. As a result, she managed to win the champion title of the Eternal MMA league, which is headed by her father. At this stage of her career, Casey remains an undefeated athlete (7-0), but it is difficult to find high-level rivals in her record. But considering that this is a young athlete, all the trophies are still ahead of her.

Strengths

O'Neill is a station wagon, although there are questions about her stance. She fearlessly goes to the wheelhouse, while she misses, but due to pressure she always takes her own. However, the main trump card of the Australian is throws, holds and work on the ground floor. High-quality control, access to painful positions from difficult positions and ground-and-pound - due to this, Casey still has "0" in the column of defeats.

Weaknesses

So far, it is not easy to highlight the disadvantages of this girl, since she did not fight with strong opponents, which is already a disadvantage. Plus, due to his aggressiveness, O'Neill rarely thinks about defense, plunging headlong into the attack, and not thinking about the consequences.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Casey is only 23 years old, and in 2021 she had 2 fights in the UFC, defeating Lara Procopio and Shana Dobson (both ahead of schedule). Until that moment, she had to deal with fighters of the second echelon, so now the athlete is waiting for the most serious exam in her career. She learns quickly, demonstrates a good level of fighting IQ, until she gets into courage, so she definitely has prospects in the major league.

Comparative analysis

In anthropometry, these ladies have parity, since Antonina has an advantage in height by 5 cm, but is inferior to her opponent in the span of her arms by a couple of centimeters. The next point is experience, and here Shevchenko is definitely ahead, since she performed much more in kickboxing and Muay Thai, moreover, at the world level, plus she has been competing in the UFC for several years. But, here we will make a remark - in the stalls Casey will be more interesting.

Athletes work in completely different styles. If a Kyrgyz woman prefers to wait and then attack, and does it carefully and skillfully, then her colleague rushes into battle, demonstrating prudence and cold calculation only on the ground. And purely technically, O'Neill can become a problem for Antonina, since working as the second number is not always convenient, and our athlete works out rather poorly under a hail of punches on the ground. Plus, "Panther" does not have knockout power, so her experience will be the main factor here, along with competent waste and footwork, otherwise everything could end badly.

Antonina Shevchenko vs Casey O'Neill Fight Prediction

Bookmakers do not believe in "young blood" for nothing, because even now Casey looks more equipped, and her flamboyant fighting style does not bode well for "knocked out pilots" and veterans like Shevchenko. There is a small chance that we will see a rout in the classroom if Antonina turns on from the first seconds and shows perfect movements along with a jab, but her past fights suggest otherwise. Most likely, O'Neill will press and draw closer, in search of a takedown, and even running into punches, will not stop, since this is the standard scheme of her work. Due to the activity and the damage done, she has every chance to pick up the victory in points, if the ground-and-pound with techniques does not allow her to extend the experienced opponent. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Prediction: Casey O'Neill wins