Dakota Ditcheva's star potential became apparent when she made her MMA debut three years ago.
In her younger years, 'Dangerous' was a kickboxing and Muay Thai sensation who wanted to follow in the footsteps of her multiple world champion mother, Lisa Howarth.
In 2021 she switched to MMA. Today, the 26-year-old Englishwoman is the PFL flyweight champion after knocking out former UFC title challenger Taila Santos with ease and upping her perfect record to 14-0 in November.
Dakota Ditcheva is also one of the top five pound-for-pound female fighters in MMA after receiving a $1 million check for fighting her way through the PFL 125-pound tournament.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Dakota Ditcheva's 'absolute masterclass' MMA debut
Fellow pro-MMA newcomer Jenny Line was the unlucky fighter to face Dakota Ditcheva in her MMA debut at Cage Steel 25, which took place in Sheffield, England, on April 10, 2021.
Ditcheva bounced around like a veteran as she switched stances and threw vicious kicks from the opening bell.
It was clear that her opponent would not be a problem. Line continually backed up to the cage fence to protect herself, but it didn't help as after a minute she took clean Muay Thai elbows to the chin.
A few knees from the clinching position sent Line to the ground, where Ditcheva got a brief chance to show off her rarely seen ground skills.
Aiming to score a highlight-reel knockout, Manchester's favorite fighter allowed her opponent to get back up.
Ditcheva connected with a huge twist down low before ending the fight with a knee to Line's face.
The Caged Steel commentator labeled Ditcheva's performance 'an absolute masterclass' as the referee stopped the fight after just 124 seconds. It's hard to disagree with that assessment after watching the footage of the dominant debut win below.
What will Dakota Ditcheva spend her $1 million on?
Ditcheva is getting used to cashing in just before the Christmas season.
In 2023, she earned a $100,000 payday for becoming PFL's European Flyweight Champion. A year later, she has another $1 million to spend after proving herself as perhaps the best 125-pound fighter in the sport.
What will Ditcheva spend her first million on? Bloody Elbow asked her that question during a recent exclusive interview
Ditcheva said: “When I won the European title last year it was a few days before Christmas and this time I won't get away with nothing now that I have the million!
“But they deserve it. My family can get what they want, that money is theirs, they can get what they want.
“My little brother has the day off right now, whenever mom says, 'You have to get a job, what are you doing?' He told us, 'It's fine, Dakota will be rich.'
“My brother's car is about to break down anyway. So I'm like, 'Are you going to work a few more shifts so you can get a new one?' And he says 'No'. So I'm sure he'll ask me for a car soon. I have a few ideas, but my little brother will definitely get a car out of me.
Ditcheva says her brother, Cody, helped her financially during tough times, and she is now absolutely thrilled to be able to pay him back tenfold.
“When I first came to America, I wasn't in the best place and I had no money,” she explained. “My brother sent a package to my door and it was a new pair of wrestling shoes that I didn't have, so he bought them.
“He sacrificed so much and it's nice now that I can finally give it back. We've always talked about it in terms of changing my family's lives, my mom and dad are together like siblings, and we haven't been in a position where we could do that financially.
“But even though we talked about it together, he still always sacrificed everything he could to help the family and me. So everything I have is his too, it's all shared because we do it together and I couldn't do it without him.
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