2024 PFL Championship Fighter to Watch: Dakota Ditcheva

Tim Bissell

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Publish Date: 11/29/2024

The 2024 PFL championships go live this weekend in Saudi Arabia with a slew of fighters looking to be crowned tournament winners (and take home million dollar cheques). The PFL finals have some of the usual faces, individuals who have won and competed for the big cheques before, like Brendan Loughnane and Impa Kasanganay.

However, there's some lesser known characters on the card, too. Some of those could be primed to make a big splash, both in PFL and in the MMA world beyond 'The Smart Cage. I've looked over the entire card and I've picked Dakota Ditcheva as the fighter to watch at the 2024 championships.

The undefeated Ditcheva isn't an under-the-radar pick. Many observers are high on her chances of winning this season of PFL and going on to a notable career in mixed martial arts.

Who is PFL's finisher queen Dakota Ditcheva?

PFL flyweight contender Dakota Ditcheva has garnered a lot of attention during her 2024 PFL season performances. The 26-year-old Englishwoman first appeared in PFL in 2022, outside of the tournament format. In 2023 she entered the PFL Europe flyweight tournament. She won that tournament with a TKO over Valentina Scatizzi in the final.

In 2024 she entered the PFL world flyweight tournament. She has breezed through her bracket, winning each of her three fights by first round TKO. That has set her up with a championship final fight with Taila Santos, who took UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko to a razor thin decision in 2022 and who eliminated Liz Carmouche during her tournament run.

Hunting For KOs! 👀 | Dakota "Dangerous" Ditcheva Finishes in PFL 👊💥

Prior to her MMA career, Ditcheva was successful in Muay Thai. Her pro Muay Thai debut was a decision win over current UFC fighter Cory McKenna.

Dakota Ditcheva vs. Taila Santos preview

Taila Santos is, by far, the most experienced and high level opponent Ditcheva has ever faced. The veteran Brazilian has been in there with elite opposition and has gone five rounds with one of the best Muay Thai to women's MMA converts around.

Ditcheva brings an impressive frame into the cage. She's a large and rangy flyweight standing 5'8" and possessing a 70 inch reach. She has a two inch advantage over Santos in height and reach.

Ditcheva is a dynamic, fast-twitch striker who is very aggressive.

Santos is a counter puncher who looks for takedowns and ground and pound to do her damage.

This fight will be a battle to see if Ditcheva's fast-paced offense (which now includes elbows) can finish Santos (someone no one has ever done) or at least wear her down to diminish her takedown threat.

If Santos is able to avoid getting hit hard, she might be able to spoil the hype train building behind Ditcheva.

If Ditcheva can blitz through Santos, then she might be a flyweight who someday contends in the UFC.

When is the 2024 PFL Championship?

The 2024 PFL Championship happens on Friday, November 29, 2024.

The PFL card’s prelims start at 7:15 a.m. ET. The main card, featuring the regular season PFL tournament finales, airs immediately after that at 1 p.m. ET.

For full fight card details and streaming options for the 2024 PFL World Championships go here.