Dakota Ditcheva hopes PFL brings her ‘a bigger tell’ in 2025

Dakota Ditcheva needs to be tested after destroying the competition en path to the 2024 PFL ladies folk’s flyweight title.

Ditcheva (14-0) cleaned up within the promotion’s inaugural ladies folk’s 125-pound season. She stopped Lisa Mauldin, Chelsea Hackett and Jena Bishop in Spherical 1 to reach the finals, where she brutalized frail UFC title challenger Taila Santos to steal the $1 million prize.

There maintain been questions about how factual the 29-365 days-dilapidated from England if truth be told used to be after an undefeated occupation launch against largely unproven competition. She answered a range of these questions with the efficiency against Santos, and Ditcheva talked about she will feel the sentiment in the direction of her starting up to replace.

“I knew who I was up against and it used to be a extremely involving matchup for me,” Ditcheva quick MMA Junkie Radio. “It used to be clearly a mighty moment for me to battle somebody be pleased Santos, and I feel be pleased I went into it with the real mindset, unlike her. I feel be pleased she underestimated me lots, for obvious. She correct thought I was a barbie. I don’t declare she took me serious in any respect. It’s a huge steal for me.

“I feel be pleased I’ve received a range of respect from of us now, which is nice. I’m now not asking of us to be singing and dancing, however of us are positively taking me critically as a fighter now, which is nice to behold.”

With Ditcheva’s stock mountain climbing in a important method, PFL will favor to take finest use her in 2025. The promotion has now not clarified whether it intends to toddle one other season in her weight class, or whether she may possibly presumably even transfer to its Gigantic Fight PPV sequence.

Ditcheva talked about she’s launch to all paths forward, so long because it feels be pleased a stage up. She doesn’t favor to face recycled names in a season layout, and hopes PFL can raise something original to the desk.

“Whenever you attach me in a single other season as soon as more, one other tournament, that’s going to be where my head goes and I’ll be support on the music of, ‘I’ve received to steal this tournament,’” Ditcheva talked about. “However, I feel a lot like you’ve received to present me something that’s going to mentally push me. I don’t favor to be fighting the identical of us. Realistically I don’t feel be pleased that is doubtless to be a factual thing for them to enact. It’s received to be be pleased somebody better, a bigger tell.