Last Friday (November 29th) at the 2024 PFL Championships, Dakota Ditcheva skyrocketed to superstardom with an impressive victory over Taila Santos.
In 2023, Ditcheva made history by becoming the first fighter to claim the PFL Europe women’s flyweight tournament title, earning a $100,000 prize after a dominant first-round stoppage against Valentina Scatizzi.
That victory also secured her a coveted spot on the global PFL roster and a place in the regular season, putting her in contention for the ultimate $1 million prize.
Dakota Ditcheva: Dominance in the PFL and Future Plans Amid UFC Speculation
After storming through Lisa Mauldin, Chelsea Hackett, and Jena Bishop, Dakota Ditcheva faced her biggest challenge yet in the PFL final against former UFC Flyweight title challenger Taila Santos.
On paper, the Brazilian was her toughest test so far. However, the 26-year-old Brit once again dominated, finishing Santos in the second round. With this victory, Ditcheva solidified her status as one of the PFL’s biggest stars and undisputed face of its women’s division, stepping into the stepping into the spotlight previously held by Kayla Harrison.
As one of the top female fights in the world, Ditcheva has inevitably faced calls to join the UFC. The sport’s premier promotion. However, she recently addressed her contract situation and the speculation about her future when she said;
“I’m locked up with the PFL. I will definitely be fighting for PFL next year, especially after just winning this title. That locks me up again—I’ve got to defend it, and I’m not planning on abandoning that belt just yet,”
“I don’t know whether you’ll see me in the tournament again or in some big fights—we’ll have to see—but I’m definitely staying with the PFL,” she added.
Dakota Ditcheva Eyes New Challenges, Considers Super Fight League Over PFL Tournament
After going out and making such easy work of everyone put in her way this year. Dakota Ditcheva could potentially make another easy $1 million next year. This is if she opts to enter the PFL tournament.
However, the 26-year-old wants to relish a new challenge and is leaning towards fighting in the Super Fight League instead so that she can face a tougher challenge explaining this Dakota said;
“I’ve just beat the top girl that PFL has, the only other person would be Liz Carmouche, so I’m not really interested in going down, I need to go up and fight better competition… Fighting a big super fight would benefit me more, I feel like would people want to see me back in the tournament fighting the same girls again.”
“Liz Carmouche is probably the only big name, she was Bellator champion so I think that’s the only one right now that would make sense, but I’m not sure, Santos beat her. I don’t know what makes sense for me right now,” Ditcheva added.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
