The UFC is always in the hunt for the next big female fighter. After Ronda Rousey, nobody has come close to the level of fame, but Amanda Nunes is up there, who is the only ever UFC women’s double champion. But there’s one more fighter who’s drawn comparisons with ‘Rowdy’, and that’s PFL’s Dakota Ditcheva, and guess what? Even Conor McGregor is a big fan of the English export as well.
Dakota Ditcheva is one of the most sought-after fighters in the current WMMA landscape, boasting an excellent 14-0 undefeated record. After her problems in the PFL surfaced, she was facing difficulties in getting a fight against a credible opponent in her promotion. Ditcheva even claimed that she was “gutted” to have not been able to fight for so long. That sparked rumors that maybe she’ll follow suit and join the UFC like other PFL fighters, like Patricio Pitbull, after Conor McGregor endorsed her.
‘The Notorious’, last month, claimed that he sees Dakota Ditcheva becoming a big star in MMA, given that she’s only 26 years old. When he bumped into her during BKFC 71 as she came to attend the show, he showered her with praise. “Great to see you, sweetheart. You’re the next big thing, baby,” Conor McGregor told Ditcheva. As we all know, the Irishman loves to see a finish, and with 19 career knockouts in his own record, he was pleased to meet the 26-year-old who already has 12 out of 14 wins coming via knockouts.
However, many people saw this interaction as Conor McGregor’s way of persuading Dakota Ditcheva to make her way into the UFC. However, the 14-0 star would later come out to claim that she’s not going anywhere and is staying in the PFL. “I get it’s hard for PFL. They’ve put all the girls in the tournament. Now they have to find someone that’s going to give me a good competition… It’s [waiting for a fight] testing for sure, but something will come,” she told ‘MMA Junkie’. Conor McGregor’s endorsement appears to be in vain as Dictheva has her wish and will be making her return to the Smart Cage against Sumiko Inaba.
The event where Dakota Ditcheva will make her return is a monumental one for the PFL, since it will be their maiden event on African soil. Scheduled for July 26 in Cape Town, South Africa, the card will also feature Johnny Eblen, who’ll fight Costello Van Steenis. So, for now, Ditcheva will stick to the UFC’s rival promotion.
Well, Ditcheva is still young and has a long way to go, but she’s already being called the next Ronda Rousey. However, an MMA veteran believes there is a key difference between the two starlets even before McGregor endorsed the 26-year-old. Let’s take a look at that front.
Before Conor McGregor, Dan Hardy gave his take on Dakota Ditcheva
Well, Conor McGregor bumped into Dakota Ditcheva just last year, and besides calling her the next big thing, he hasn’t really gone in on what makes her special. When it comes to the comparisons with Ronda Rousey, Dan Hardy claims that, unlike the Hall of Famer female legend, Dakota Ditcheva is multi-faceted in her approach to fighting.
Ronda Rousey was termed as being a ‘one-trick pony’ since her go-to move has always been the armbar. But Dan Hardy claims that Dakota Ditcheva is more well-rounded and could have given Rousey some problems if Dakota had fought her back during the early 2010s. “Ronda was a pioneer in martial arts, women’s martial arts in particular, but the reason why she was so effective is because she was particularly overwhelming in one range… Whereas Dakota, over the last two years, has also shown that she’s a fully well-rounded MMA fighter,” Hardy told ‘Bloody Elbow’ late last year.
He mentioned her grappling and striking are on par with each other, and Dan Hardy’s pretty confident that Dakota Ditcheva beats the cream of the crop of her weight class in any promotion. That certainly includes the UFC. Well, we’ll find out whether she ends up fighting in the UFC later in her career or not, since Dana White‘s promotion has been the only consistent promotion in the MMA landscape ever since it gained mainstream attention.
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