Written by Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Dakota Ditcheva plans to put another world title belt right next to teammate Kayla Harrison’s before the year is over.
After winning the 2024 season in the women’s flyweight division for PFL, Ditcheva finally returns to action this Saturday when she faces Sumiko Inaba at PFL Africa. In preparation for her return to the PFL cage, she got to watch Harrison capture UFC gold with a dominant submission win over Julianna Peña at UFC 316 in June. That moment served as an inspiration for the rising PFL star.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. I’ve actually got goosebumps when you think about it,” Ditcheva told MMA Fighting. “Like her journey through MMA, or just through martial arts sport has been crazy.
“After she won out there was loads of things online, I was just reading it all because, for me, a journey like that — Olympic gold medalist, comes to PFL, cleans everyone out there. Goes to UFC, cleans everyone out there. Within two or three fights, she’s got the UFC belt. That journey that she’s been on is absolutely crazy.”
The 26-year-old Ditcheva rolled through the competition during the 2024 season, which was capped off by a lopsided stoppage win over one-time UFC title challenger Taila Santos in the PFL World Championships in November. Ditcheva has finished all nine of her PFL opponents as she prepares for a featured spot on a massive card for the Professional Fighters League.
As her level of stardom continues to grow, and, hopefully, the level of competition gets tougher with the progression of her career, Ditcheva leans on the work ethic of Harrison to get her through the tough times at American Top Team.
“The weight cuts, the dedication she’s got to training, when she’s saying in these interviews, she’s not missed a day running or biking, that girl is in the gym every morning, every afternoon, and between them sessions, she’s walking, she’s running,” Ditcheva explained. “She’s the hardest worker in that gym.
“So to have someone like that around us and set such an example like that for us girls in the gym is like second to none. That’s why we’re the best, best gym in the world because we’ve got examples like that around us. How can we not be inspired and want to keep working hard when we see people like Kayla Harrison doing that?”