Dakota Ditcheva arguably became the new face of the PFL with her dominant run through the women’s flyweight division in 2024, but that now begs the question of what comes next.
Truth be told, the 26-year-old fighter from England doesn’t know the answer to that right now either, as she embarks on a very important year ahead for her. After claiming a championship and the $1 million prize that comes along with it, Ditcheva wants to continue rising up the ranks at 125 pounds, but that’s going to require her to face newer and better competition.
That’s why she remains undecided on her plans for 2025 when it comes to rejoining the PFL season-long tournament or possibly targeting one-off fights that could potentially land on major events like the “super fight” shows on pay-per-view.
“Obviously, the merger with Bellator is perfect,” Ditcheva told MMA Fighting. “They definitely still have a talented group of flyweights for sure. So there’s definitely still going to be a few options that we can push our heads together and come up with. They are going to have to find [new talent]. I think again, being in a tournament, do people want to see me fight the same girls in the tournament again? Do they like the tournament format? I’m not sure.
“Would it be better of you to put me on a pay-per-view card and have me on a big fight and promote it like that? They promote me a lot during these tournaments. Could that work on a pay-per-view? I’m not sure. Maybe it could if you get me a big fight. If you put it in Manchester, put a few big names on it, things like that. There are so many options. PFL are quite good like that.”
Ditcheva arguably already took out the biggest and most established name in the division when she finished former UFC title challenger Taila Santos as the year-end PFL card in November.
She acknowledges Bellator flyweight champion Liz Carmouche as a potential opponent, but eventually, PFL has to refill those coffers with bigger and better competition.
When two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison was in a similar position, she fought plenty of new fighters during the PFL season but ultimately ended up with Larissa Pacheco as her opponent in three separate finales. After already beating Pacheco twice in the past, Harrison ended up suffering the only loss of her career in the third fight.
While the flyweight division is much deeper than the talent pool at 155 pounds, where Harrison competed in the PFL, Ditcheva knows the promotion has to go out and sign those fighters to ensure she doesn’t end up in a similar position as her American Top Team teammate.
“Kayla fighting Pacheco three times, was it necessary? I don’t know,” Ditcheva said. “But then again, everything for a reason, and look what she’s doing in the UFC now. That’s what I’m going to say about that. But for me, it’s never really been like, ‘Oh, I’m going to win it a second time.’ I’ve won it now. Give me another challenge that’s going to motivate me. But then again, if you put me in it, I’m going to take it serious. Every fight, I’ll be on it again. I don’t know. I think it’s difficult because I want to be fighting better and better every time. I want that competition all the time.
“That’s what I’ve done the last two years, which people don’t understand. I’ve gone through the Europe season, I went up and up and up. I won that, and then I stepped up and went to the global season, went up and up and up, just beat Santos. Now I’ve got to keep that movement going. I’m 26, I don’t want to sit where I am or I don’t want to go down. For me, it’s important that me and PFL come up with something to challenge me and that I keep progressing. That’s the main thing for me.”
Of course, PFL has to know the potential that exists in someone like Ditcheva and her importance to the organization, especially after losing Harrison to the UFC in free agency.
For Harrison, signing with the UFC wasn’t about money as much as the legacy she wanted to achieve with hopes of becoming one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Ditcheva has similar aspirations, but she has faith that the PFL is going to seek out the kinds of fights that will not only keep her busy but continue to raise her stock compared to every other flyweight in the world.
“One thing I will say about that, people were commenting all the time, ‘UFC missed out on PFL [Europe],’ and what PFL did right was they went to Europe and picked up that young talent, and that’s how they ended up with me,” Ditcheva said. “They’ve kind of gone out of that top-level zone, picked up the young talent, and now look what they’re getting.
“I do think they’re very clever with it and think they’ll come up with something cool.”
