Manchester's undefeated Muay Thai star Dakota Ditcheva devastates former UFC title challenger with body shots, wins $1 million

Val Dewar

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Manchester's undefeated Muay Thai star Dakota Ditcheva devastates former UFC title challenger with body shots, wins $1 million image

'Dangerous' Dakota Ditcheva faced a sharp rise in level of her MMA opponents when she faced Taila Santos in the PFL women's flyweight playoff final of 2024, but she made the Brazilian look amateurish on the way to a second round TKO.

Ditcheva defended every takedown and comfortably out-struck Santos in the opening stanza, but the second round was when she turned the heat up. With elbows now allowed in PFL title fights, Dakota's 'eight limbs' kept up a constant assault to the head and body, completely flummoxing a veteran with twice as much experience.

After a series of especially brutal knees to the body made possible by her slick clinch work, Dakota landed a left hook to the solar plexus which made her foe double over in pain. She did not relent, punching the ribs again and again until the referee saw that Taila's body just could not take any more, no matter how tough she was.

To understand the level of this win, context is needed. Back in 2022, Santos won four straight UFC fights to get to a title shot against the GOAT of the division, Valentina Shevchenko. She out-wrestled the longtime champion, who has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, for about half of the fight.

Ultimately Taila lost a split decision to Shevchenko, then left the UFC after losing a dud of a fight against Erin Blanchfield. Still, her pedigree and skills clearly far exceed those of any who Dakota had faced before; Santos also beat Bellator champ Liz Carmouche in the semifinals of the 2024 playoffs.

As for Ditcheva, her opponents held no notable name power, with the best being black belt Jena Bishop, who is extremely limited as a striker and even a wrestler. The gap between Bishop and Santos is astronomical in MMA.

Dakota's 14-0 record have come against opponents appropriate for her experience, given that she just turned to professional mixed martial arts in 2021. Yet within two years she had entered and won the PFL Europe title and now she has done the same for the main PFL season. The world is her oyster.

With $1 million under her belt, who is to say what she will do next? If Dakota feels she wants to test herself against better opponents who is to say she will not leave for the UFC, having beaten the toughest test PFL has to offer at her weight? Or perhaps she could even turn to ONE Championship, where she could fight in Muay Thai, MMA, and kickboxing under the same banner? 

No matter what she does, the eyes of the world are upon her now, led by the legions of English, and especially Mancunian, fans who adore her. 

Val Dewar

Val Dewar Photo

Val was initiated into Steelers Nation from the moment he was born — his first memory is a game vs. New England from when "Slash" was QB — and doing sports writing has always been a dream career for him. In 2022 he broke into the industry by writing about combat sports for Cageside Press, and now has the opportunity to continue that work with TSN as an MMA writer, as well as get his feet wet on the Steelers beat.