Opinion: How Dakota Ditcheva Could Become the Face of Women’s MMA

Since its inception six years ago, the Professional Fighters League has set out to discover and develop homegrown stars that could rival the popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s top talent. Now, there is a PFL project that’s on the brink of breaking through to the next level of stardom: Meet “Dangerous” Dakota Ditcheva.

The undefeated English flyweight has taken the women’s mixed martial arts scene by storm in three short years as a pro. Few active female fighters outside Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg and Weili Zhang are truly terrifying on their feet, but the 26-year-old is a rare exception. Ditcheva’s muay thai is as beautiful as it is brutal. She has the rare combination of power and personality to become a box office giant. But one thing is standing in her way.

Former UFC title challenger Taila Santos is one of the best flyweights in the world and the No. 9 ranked pound-for-pound female fighter according to Sherdog’s rankings. Santos was on the cusp of gold before dropping a disputed split decision to Shevchenko two years ago. Despite her success in the Octagon, Santos believed her services could be better utilized elsewhere, and she made headlines when she bolted for the PFL in March.

When Santos first arrived, her participation in the PFL tournament seemed like a formality. She was instilled as an early favorite to win the $1 million grand prize. With wins over Ilara Joanne, Jena Bishop and Bellator MMA champion Liz Carmouche, few are surprised to see Santos in the season finale, but there’s now some doubt that she can finish the job.

With all due respect to Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco, Ditcheva and Santos’ PFL Europe 2024 Finals showdown for the 2024 PFL Flyweight Tournament Championship on Friday at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, could be the most anticipated women’s MMA fight in PFL history. Santos (22-3) is heavy-handed, has formidable jiu-jitsu and is more battle-tested than Ditcheva (13-0). Ditcheva is five years younger and has finished her last four opponents in the first round. The better woman will win, but I believe it’s in the PFL’s best interest to see the young Brit take this one. Let me explain why.

Many of the top stars in the PFL have one thing in common: they’ve lost outside the organization. Impa Kasanganay has turned his career around, but until he chains together championship after championship it would be a tough sell to say he’s the best light heavyweight in the world when his UFC stint ended well short of winning it all. An exception to this is former Bellator king Brent Primus, who is having a career resurgence and is fighting in the lightweight tournament finale. Ditcheva can follow in Primus’ footsteps and prove that the PFL method works, but it will be from a homegrown fighter against a proven commodity and Top 10 P4P talent in Santos. This is a totally different ballgame.

It’s wild to think that Ditcheva wasn’t even fighting on the world stage just a year ago. She had to earn her spot in the global tournament with three straight finishes on the PFL Europe circuit. After being elevated to the global PFL ranks, many believed she was too raw to win a tournament with experienced foes like Santos and Carmouche in the draw. Still, Ditcheva has proved doubters wrong, one devastating knockout at a time.

No fighter — man or woman — has cruised through the season as effortlessly as Ditcheva. Lisa Mauldin and Chelsea Hackett looked like day-one amateurs before her. Jena Bishop, who took Santos to the wire in their regular season matchup, was turned into mincemeat by Ditcheva’s distance management, crisp punches and debilitating body attack. After coming into the season as a dark horse, Ditcheva enters Friday’s final as the betting favorite and for good reason.

If Ditcheva wins, it’ll mark her fifth win in less than 365 days, and if she destroys Santos like she has everyone else, it would put the entire combat sports world on notice.