As referenced by PFL CEO Peter Murray, Dakota Ditcheva is a prime example of the promotion’s system working exactly as intended. She signed with tons of potential, showed that she had the ability to be a star by winning the PFL Europe tournament and has hit the ground running in the regular season.
Now, she is preparing for the finals where she faces her toughest opponent to date but first, she got the opportunity to stand on the PFL pedestal.
One of the biggest events in the promotion’s calendar this year was a press conference. One that would see Francis Ngannou come face-to-face with Renan Ferreira for the first time before he makes his return to MMA. Before the giants faced off, kicking the stream off was PFL partner Jake Paul who was joined on stage by Ditcheva in another symbol of just how far the promotion thinks she can go.
“Yeah I was surprised they asked me to come to be honest but obviously, super exciting opportunity. Especially to be on stage being interviewed, that's the type of stuff I kinda want to do in the future or in the near future so I'm very lucky that I got the invite here and I hope I did alright." Ditcheva told the media in a post-press conference interview.
Alongside her getting to meet Jake in person for the first time, he was extremely complementary of her and even drew comparisons between her and Ronda Rousey in terms of her star potential. Ditcheva has heard the “Rowdy” links before and whilst there will only ever be one Rousey, Ditcheva is on her own path to becoming a major player.
"When I first started my career in MMA, when I first fought even in amateur, I had an article go viral where someone compared me to Ronda Rousey so it's not the first time that someone's said it but yeah, she was someone that I looked up to from the very beginning so it's nice to have my name mentioned alongside her."
Of course, in order to put their homegrown stars like Ditcheva in these spotlights, they need to have a stage big enough to do it and that’s exactly what the PFL debut of Francis Ngannou brings to the table. "I feel like I've definitely joined PFL at the right time, for myself and my own career, I think it was the perfect timing for me but then the way that PFL have grown recently, and all the things that they've got going on and all the people they've got coming in and on board is just amazing so I definitely feel very lucky to be in the position I am right now and I can't wait to see what happens after this season."
The former kickboxer has got that star quality and charisma that you cannot teach but in combat sports, that only gets you so far if you can’t walk the walk inside the cage. Ditcheva has certainly done that, even if she has had her fair share of detractors that believe she has been given an easy run. For her, she takes this as nothing more than jealous fighters wanting to stay relevant. Ditcheva’s stance on all the exposure she’s getting is that she would have got to this point one way or another because at the end of the day, she does her best work in the fight itself.
In arguably the most enticing clash of the PFL 2024 finals, the former PFL Europe champion will take on Taila Santos, who was a big get for the promotion having previously competed in a UFC title fight where she marginally came up short. Santos also represents the total opposite path to the finals and has been very outspoken about her Ditcheva doubts. The same can be said for the American Top Team fighter’s last opponent, Jena Bishop, who Ditcheva silenced by finishing her in the first round and then shushing her in the post-fight celebration.
"It was mainly at Jena and her team but I feel like she took the wrap for a lot of other people as well probably. No disrespect to her now obviously but when you talk a lot of trash, I mean it's alright to talk trash in general, I feel like it's fine but when you're actually talking down on someone's journey in the spot and the fact that, ‘You've fought no one, you've only fought cans and all the girls you're fighting are rubbish', when you get personal like that, i just feel like you need to back it up and she didn't do that."
With support from the PFL fighter that, in some ways, she took the torch from as the female face of the roster in ATT teammate Kayla Harrison, Ditcheva is now set on ending any trash talk by defeating Santos and winning the million dollars. Though as of right now, duty calls back home as the 26-year-old travelled back to the UK to watch her beloved Manchester City back in action yesterday, there is nothing that can steal her focus away from getting her hand raised once again in the SmartCage.
"Nothing concerns me. Her experience is probably the only thing she's got over me. She's fought at that top level, she's done five rounds before already so I think they're the things that sets us apart but apart from that, there's nothing really. I feel like I'm still on her level, I showed that by beating Jenna in the first round, she went to a split decision so I feel like I definitely have shown that I'm capable of beating her."
"No, honestly, nothing can distract me. I know what job I have to do and I'm very performance focused in what I'm here to do. None of the media ever gets too much for me."
Words by Kyle Dimond
