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Dakota Ditcheva channeling Khabib Nurmagomodov as she targets MMA’s improbable records

Dakota Ditcheva is ignoring the naysayers and targeting one of the more improbable records in all of mixed martial arts.

Ditcheva, 26, became the youngest champion in PFL history in 2024, and now returns to fight on July 19 for the first time since her breakout $1 million tournament success. The striker meets Sumiko Inaba in a women's flyweight bout in the co-main event of PFL's debut trip to the GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. Johnny Elben fights Costello van Steenis in the headline bout, while high-flyer A.J. McKee also takes on Akhmed Magomedov in his first bout since a 2024 split decision loss to Paul Hughes.

“It’s going to be a really good matchup,” Ditcheva told Uncrowned ahead of her first fight in seven months. “Nobody can say [Inaba has] not proven herself. I've seen her around … I have taken it seriously.”

Success on fight night isn’t the only thing Ditcheva has on her mind, because she wants to be a Khabib Nurmagomedov or Floyd Mayweather for the new era. She wants to storm in, create a legacy, and retire at the top of the sport with an undefeated record in tow.

Nurmagomedov (29-0) famously ran a gauntlet at lightweight, beating Rafael dos Anjos, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, before calling the curtain on his UFC career with a triangle choke over Justin Gaethje in front of only a handful of people at a behind-closed-doors, COVID-era bubble in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Mayweather (50-0), too, dominated his discipline, retiring as a near-billionaire in boxing after wins over Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and McGregor, among many others.

“People always say there'll always be someone there who can beat you, but, who says? Why do people say that?" Ditcheva asked. "Why accept you're going to get beat at one point? That's not the mentality you should have.”

Ditcheva is already 14-0 with 13 wins by finish (12 knockouts and one submission). Only Paula Cristina has taken her the distance in just Ditcheva's fifth pro fight, and that hasn't happened again in more than three years.

The PFL star is an even greater talent these days, showing a particularly nasty appetite for finishing fights with brutal body shots — like her signature win over the one-time UFC flyweight title challenger Taila Santos this past November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Uncrowned recognized her exploits by touting her as one of MMA’s breakout athletes of 2024, and the combat sports industry ended the year talking up a possible future fight between herself and the UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko.

By many metrics, Dakota is PFL’s biggest homegrown star since Kayla Harrison, who herself is on the cusp of a generational showdown as UFC bantamweight champion against Amanda Nunes — a bout Ditcheva said she’d struggle to watch because she has a relationship with both of American Top Team’s championship athletes.

Victory over Inaba later this month would advance Ditcheva’s professional record to 15-0, but she refuses to stop there. “If you get beat, it happens,” she said. “But that's not something I think about. I think about staying undefeated [and going to] 15-0, 30-0, 60-0.

“I'm not thinking about one loss on my record. Hell, no. It's not going to happen for me.”

Why accept you’re going to get beat at one point? That’s not the mentality you should have.

Dakota Ditcheva

Should Ditcheva keep tallying wins, her growing reputation in combat sports will no doubt transition from that of a breakout performer to a top-tier pound-for-pound sensation. She’s already envisioning a dream fight at the 53,000-capacity Etihad Stadium, home of English Premier League giant Manchester City. It’s a venue that beloved British boxer Ricky Hatton once fought in, having defeated Juan Lazcano in a homecoming bout back in 2008. Ditcheva wants to be the first MMA fighter to headline the venue.

“[Fighting at the] Etihad is my dream,” she said. “We’ll have the full Manchester City team [in attendance]. I might even have [City coach] Pep [Guardiola] in the corner, and have him walk me out.

“He’s very strategic about mindset,” Ditcheva added of the three-time UEFA Champions League-winning coach. “He'd be a good person to have in the corner. We need to make that happen so he can walk me out before he retires.”

As for the dream opponent, Ditcheva stopped short of name-checking Shevchenko, considering the Kyrgyzstani fighter competes in a rival organization. “Whoever the best girl is at that time,” she said instead.

For now, though, Ditcheva simply wants to help PFL make history in new grounds in South Africa against Inaba, before reclaiming her PFL flyweight belt before the end of the year.

"I want to be busy,” she said. “I want to have my belt back by the end of the year. Whichever girl wins, I'll take it from them, for sure. That's my belt. And I'm excited to get it back.”

Considering the spectacularly violent nature of her wins to date, few should bet against her.

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