PFL Europe was created to help build stars like Dakota Ditcheva to thrive outside the UFC. While she has now become a valuable asset for the MMA brand, they have to ensure that they now keep her happy. If not, she will likely follow Kayla Harrison’s lead by heading to the UFC.
It was recently revealed by Ditcheva on Sirius XM’s MMA Today show that the UFC actually put out a trade offer to the PFL for her services, which they subsequently turned down. PFL came under fire for their handling of Bellator GOAT Patricio Pitbull. Now, they have to ensure more stars like Pitbull or highly-sought after talents like Ditcheva stays with them for the long haul.
The Rise of Dakota Ditcheva
Considering the fact that Ditcheva was a relatively unknown fighter when she signed with the Professional Fighters League, her 4-0 unbeaten run in 2024 and rise to stardom has been a sight to behold. Ditcheva was able to take her career standing to 14-0 when she defeated Taila Santos in the PFL’s 125-pound women’s tournament final. This only strengthened the case for UFC to want to sign her.
Dakota Ditcheva is a potential superstar (Image via PFL.com)PFL, and to be fair every company in MMA that isn’t UFC, has the unfortunate distinction of some fans that it is a place for older or “failed” UFC fighters to go after their career in the world-famous octagon doesn’t quite go to plan. The Professional Fighters League has a genuine star in Ditcheva, and they have to ensure that they keep her to help build the PFL as a global fighting brand further.
PFL vs. UFC – The choice for Dakota Ditcheva
Something that really struck me from that comment Ditcheva made is the fact that she claims she heard “rumors” that the UFC were after her. Now, the PFL does not need to make all of their business known to the talent roster, but Ditcheva not having any knowledge of it “officially” from them seems bizarre.
PFL will probably offer Ditcheva a great amount of money to fight again as part of their next season, but is that even something that she wants to do anymore? Competing in a rigorous format in a small amount of time rather than competing a couple of times a year, spread out of course, might at least be guaranteed income…but when you’re getting a “name” in the sport it’s one hell of a grind.
Dakota Ditcheva can go to any promotion she wants (Image via Instagram)The British fighter even began making comments about the level of competition in the PFL when she spoke to talkSPORT in late 2024. The standout PFL talent stated that she has already beaten the “top girl” in Santos, so what is even left for her?
That sounds like someone who is either on the fence or doing one hell of a job to get a pay rise. There is also the possibility that the British fighter might think there is nothing for herself at the PFL. After all, the women’s division is not that deep in the promotion. It might make her consider the same path followed by Kayla Harrison – Join the UFC!
Trade deals aren’t new for UFC
This isn’t the first time that the UFC has offered a trade deal to get a big name from another MMA company. The biggest deal up to this point in time saw Demetrious Johnson head to ONE Championship in 2018 with Ben Askren heading the other way.
UFC did trade deals before (Image via Yahoo)You could arguably say that this actually worked out better for ONE FC in the long term, but Askren was considered a potential UFC champion in waiting before he met the knee of Jorge Masvidal. I have no doubt that UFC will be able to offer Ditcheva the level of compensation that she would be looking for to make the jump.
They did so when Kayla Harrison decided to switch to Ultimate Fighting, and Ditcheva is now in that position of having all the cards and being able to call the plays. The PFL needs Ditcheva, but she doesn’t need the PFL, which they need to really be worried about.
How PFL can keep Dakota Ditcheva
Judging by what Ditcheva has said publicly, I think it is pretty clear that she wants to start taking the mega “super” PPV fights rather than continuing in the league format. The PFL Super Fights PPV format officially began back in February 2024 in Saudi Arabia and most recently saw Francis Ngannou return to MMA in October to face Renan Ferreira.
The question is, can the PFL even get the level of talent at Flyweight to make a main event for Ditcheva attractive for her and the buying public? It’s really difficult to not overlook how the UFC could offer her Valentina Shevchenko, Alexa Grasso, Rose Namajunas et al right from the off.
Dakota Ditcheva (Image via Instagram)In terms of what PFL needs to do to keep the Brit happy…will Super Fights and a big payday be enough? You have to remember that what the UFC offers can sometimes be equated even beyond the payday you get for fighting in the octagon, because it is the premier brand of MMA, it’s what the man on the street thinks of when you say “cage fighting.”
You simply can’t put that to the side when you look at the potential upside for someone like Ditcheva considering a move to the “big leagues.” This is because it comes with the sort of exposure that you cannot get anywhere else in the sport.
For the sake of the PFL and MMA in general I do hope that they’re able to offer Ditcheva a package that will keep her on board for the foreseeable further. But honestly? I’m not sure the allure of fighting in the UFC is something you can even turn down if you’re an MMA fighter in 2025.
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