Dakota Ditcheva desires to be tested after destroying the competition en path to the 2024 PFL women’s flyweight title.
Ditcheva (14-0) cleaned up within the promotion’s inaugural women’s 125-pound season. She stopped Lisa Mauldin, Chelsea Hackett and Jena Bishop in Round 1 to achieve the finals, where she brutalized former UFC title challenger Taila Santos to win the $1 million prize.
There have been questions on how good the 29-year-old from England truly was after an undefeated profession start against largely unproven competition. She answered a lot of those questions with the performance against Santos, and Ditcheva said she will feel the sentiment toward her starting to vary.
“I knew who I used to be up against and it was a really exciting matchup for me,” Ditcheva told MMA Junkie Radio. “It was obviously an enormous moment for me to fight someone like Santos, and I feel like I went into it with the proper mindset, unlike her. I feel like she underestimated me loads, of course. She just thought I used to be a barbie. I don’t think she took me serious in any respect. It’s an enormous win for me.
“I feel like I’ve gained a variety of respect from people now, which is sweet. I’m not asking people to be singing and dancing, but individuals are definitely taking me seriously as a fighter now, which is sweet to see.”
With Ditcheva’s stock climbing in a major way, PFL could have to choose how you can best use her in 2025. The promotion has not clarified whether it intends to run one other season in her weight class, or whether she could move to its Super Fight PPV series.
Ditcheva said she’s open to all paths forward, as long as it seems like a level up. She doesn’t wish to face recycled names in a season format, and hopes PFL can bring something fresh to the table.
“If you happen to put me in one other season again, one other tournament, that’s going to be where my head goes and I’ll be back on the track of, ‘I’ve got to win this tournament,’” Ditcheva said. “But, I feel such as you’ve got to offer me something that’s going to mentally push me. I don’t wish to be fighting the identical people. Realistically I don’t feel like that will be thing for them to do. It’s got to be like someone higher, an even bigger challenge.
You’ll want to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to debate this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
