The sky is the limit for Dakota Ditcheva, who delivered a stunning performance to win the women's flyweight world title at the PFL World Championship Finals in Saudi Arabia. Tipped to emulate Ronda Rousey, Ditcheva is on a trajectory to enjoy superstardom and transcend the sport in many ways.
Ditcheva, who has been likened to UFC legend Rousey for her performances inside the cage and star power, made a big statement that was heard around the MMA world following her destruction of former UFC veteran Taila Santos, stopping her in the second round of their championship clash last month.
In doing so, she claimed the PFL women's flyweight world title and the $1 million prize while etching her name in history as she became the first British woman to win an MMA world title.
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Naturally, there have been calls for her to join the premier promotion, the UFC.
While she's committed to PFL, she has not only looked at the UFC flyweight rankings but also fancies her chances against the best Dana White's roster has to offer.
"I look at the UFC and I think I definitely enter top 15 maybe even top 10 straight away," she told SPORTbible. "I genuinely am at that stage. For me, I look over there and think 'yeah I could beat a lot of them'."
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Still only 26, Ditcheva has time on her side as she targets a dream homecoming, prophesying a showdown at Manchester City's Eithad stadium.
"It is a dream, but it will happen one day," the die-hard Man City fan explained. "European title win happened; this world championship win happened. The Etihad will happen!"
On a potential PFL event in Manchester, she continued: "Me and Brendan [Loughnane] are trying to push it. With the PFL Europe situation, there's a lot of other Manchester fighters that are up and coming that could fill the card and bring big crowds. I hope they do it one day."
Ditcheva's already at the top, but she's destined to reach another level of popularity. Already the face of the PFL, having built her name with the MMA organisation, the undefeated Brit is thankful for the promotional push that she has received as she plots her next move.
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"I hate to say I'm bigger than PFL. I wouldn't say that. We need each other as much as each other. I need them, they need me," she said. "I do feel like I do a lot for them... they do use me as the face of everything.
"I definitely feel like my name is growing a lot, but that is a lot to do with the fact that PFL push me as well, so it works both ways."
Ditcheva, who won the 2023 PFL Europe women's flyweight tournament, is excited to see what the future holds following PFL's acquisition of Bellator MMA, having put on super-cards since the merger - with last October's card featuring former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
"They are bringing in so many other opportunities," she added. "The last two years have been perfect for me. I did the European, won that. I've done the worlds this year. And then we don't know what's going to happen next.... with the merger with Bellator, it's really exciting... you know the super fight cards that they do, the influencers that they are bringing in and mixing it up should bring a lot of new eyes."
Topics: Ronda Rousey, UFC, Spotlight
Nasir Jabbar