Lethal left hand made me Britain’s newest MMA millionaire — now I want to follow Francis Ngannou in PFL
Dakota Ditcheva is Britain’s newest MMA millionaire. Ditcheva put her undefeated record on the line in Saudi Arabia on Friday night for the 2024 PFL Women’s Flyweight Tournament final. Ditcheva made $1 million after beating SantosJose Peñuela / PFL And subsequently became PFL’s flyweight champion of the worldJose Peñuela / PFL It only took the 26-year-old from Sale, Greater Manchester, two rounds to finish Taila Santos, a former UFC title fighter, and be crowned PFL’s newest flyweight champion. She now boasts an undefeated professional MMA record of 14 wins and zero defeats, with 10 of these victories coming in the first round. “That’s the first person that I feel I’ve looked up to, watched in the UFC, and now I’ve just fought,” Ditcheva said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT MMA. “So for me It’s a very big moment. I was sat just talking to myself before the fight and I was like: ‘This doesn’t even feel like crazy pressure that I’m fighting for a million or a world title.’ “It felt like I’m going in there to beat Santos. It was really strange. Everyone always said to me: ‘Don’t get too caught up in it being for a million dollars and the world title.’ and I was like: ‘I’m not, I’m going to beat Santos.’” “It was a really strange mentality that I had but I feel like that’s maybe what helped me.” DItcheva, who trains with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, was the superior fighter right from the off in her co-main event bout on Friday night. She used her naturally larger frame to pick away at Santos, who didn’t seem to have an answer for her repetitive kicks to the legs, body and face. Towards the end of round one, ‘Dangerous’ landed a nasty front kick to the Brazilian’s head that was inches from knocking her out, and this ultimately foreshadowed her continued dominance on the stand-up. There were just under 30 seconds left in the second round when the Mancunian had Santos trapped up against the cage. ‘Dangerous’ landed several leg kicksJose Peñuela / PFL And nearly KOd the Brazilian with one to the headJose Peñuela / PFL She hit her with a brutal left knee, then an elbow, but it was her one and only lethal left hand to the body that put the nail in the coffin, and the referee soon waved off the fight as Santos failed to respond. Ditcheva added that she now may end up solely competing in PFL’s pay-per-view Super Fight division set up by Jake Paul, who signed with the organisation in January 2023. Francis Ngannou became the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champion when he made a successful return to MMA in October after leaving the UFC. Ngannou finished Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in the opening round two-and-a-half years after beating Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 to retain his heavyweight title. “We haven’t spoken about it too much yet with PFL,” Ditcheva said. “It’s difficult because for me I’ve just beat the top girl that is out there. So if you put me back in a tournament I’m going to get more stick for fighting the same girls and people at a lower level. Ngannou became PFL’s inaugural Super Fight heavyweight champion in OctoberGetty “So does it make sense to do that with someone that’s like that? I feel like I bring in a lot of attention, so maybe a Super Fight might suit me a little bit better. But then is anyone going to watch the season without me in it? “…I’m only 26 as well so wait until me and my team get back in the gym and we start cooking again.” ‘Dangerous’ was a decorated muay Thai fighter before transitioning to MMA in 2021, following in the footsteps of her mother, Lisa Howarth, who was a multiple-time kickboxing world champion Now, she remains one of PFL’s most popular fighters and has just cemented herself in the conversation of MMA’s best up-and-coming female athletes.
Dakota Ditcheva is Britain’s newest MMA millionaire.
Ditcheva put her undefeated record on the line in Saudi Arabia on Friday night for the 2024 PFL Women’s Flyweight Tournament final.
It only took the 26-year-old from Sale, Greater Manchester, two rounds to finish Taila Santos, a former UFC title fighter, and be crowned PFL’s newest flyweight champion.
She now boasts an undefeated professional MMA record of 14 wins and zero defeats, with 10 of these victories coming in the first round.
“That’s the first person that I feel I’ve looked up to, watched in the UFC, and now I’ve just fought,” Ditcheva said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT MMA.
“So for me It’s a very big moment. I was sat just talking to myself before the fight and I was like: ‘This doesn’t even feel like crazy pressure that I’m fighting for a million or a world title.’
“It felt like I’m going in there to beat Santos. It was really strange. Everyone always said to me: ‘Don’t get too caught up in it being for a million dollars and the world title.’ and I was like: ‘I’m not, I’m going to beat Santos.’”
“It was a really strange mentality that I had but I feel like that’s maybe what helped me.”
DItcheva, who trains with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, was the superior fighter right from the off in her co-main event bout on Friday night.
She used her naturally larger frame to pick away at Santos, who didn’t seem to have an answer for her repetitive kicks to the legs, body and face.
Towards the end of round one, ‘Dangerous’ landed a nasty front kick to the Brazilian’s head that was inches from knocking her out, and this ultimately foreshadowed her continued dominance on the stand-up.
There were just under 30 seconds left in the second round when the Mancunian had Santos trapped up against the cage.
She hit her with a brutal left knee, then an elbow, but it was her one and only lethal left hand to the body that put the nail in the coffin, and the referee soon waved off the fight as Santos failed to respond.
Ditcheva added that she now may end up solely competing in PFL’s pay-per-view Super Fight division set up by Jake Paul, who signed with the organisation in January 2023.
Francis Ngannou became the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champion when he made a successful return to MMA in October after leaving the UFC.
Ngannou finished Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in the opening round two-and-a-half years after beating Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 to retain his heavyweight title.
“We haven’t spoken about it too much yet with PFL,” Ditcheva said.
“It’s difficult because for me I’ve just beat the top girl that is out there. So if you put me back in a tournament I’m going to get more stick for fighting the same girls and people at a lower level.
“So does it make sense to do that with someone that’s like that? I feel like I bring in a lot of attention, so maybe a Super Fight might suit me a little bit better. But then is anyone going to watch the season without me in it?
“…I’m only 26 as well so wait until me and my team get back in the gym and we start cooking again.”
‘Dangerous’ was a decorated muay Thai fighter before transitioning to MMA in 2021, following in the footsteps of her mother, Lisa Howarth, who was a multiple-time kickboxing world champion
Now, she remains one of PFL’s most popular fighters and has just cemented herself in the conversation of MMA’s best up-and-coming female athletes.
