Dan Hardy expects Dakota Ditcheva to be among the faces of PFL over the coming years, and he’s curious to see how her career will unfold.
Ditcheva (15-0) rose to PFL prominence by winning the 2023 PFL Europe tournament, then the 2024 PFL World Tournament. She’s fought just once since November 2024 due to injuries and struggles to get booked, and was most recently forced out of a bout with Denis Kielholtz due to her damaged hand.
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Lead PFL color color commentator Hardy has some concerns about Ditcheva’s current struggles to keep healthy, but thinks it will eventually pass.
“It’s not ideal. A hand injury is never a good thing for a fighter,” Hardy told MMA Junkie. “The best thing she can do is to make sure she can take the time to get it fixed properly and she’s not rushing into start hitting things again with it. Because that’s ultimately where these things prolong and re-injure and all those kind of things.”
It’s been an upsetting situation for Ditcheva, 27, but she recently made it clear she is efforting to get back in the cage.
“I cried this week – I’ve been that upset, honestly. It’s been a little bit overwhelming for me,” Ditcheva said on the PFL: Dubai broadcast this past Saturday. “I think people see me doing things like that on YouTube, watching me go all around the world having amazing opportunities. But first and foremost, I am a fighter and I want to fight. Missing out on opportunities like this is hurtful for me sometimes and I was very heartbroken. But I’m still here, and like my mom says, there are people much worse off than me, so I’ve got to see the positives in that.”
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Whenever Ditcheva does get back, Hardy wants to see a showdown with former Bellator champ and UFC title challenger Liz Carmouche, who he sees as the strongest test for Ditcheva’s skill set right now.
“That is the fight to make, isn’t it?” Hardy said. “That’s the fight both of those ladies want, as well. It’s the obvious victory for both of them in the division, the biggest win that they could get.”
Hardy thinks Ditcheva only has a number of fights left in her at 125 pounds, where she is ranked No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie divisional update. He sees her body eventually forcing her up a weight class.
“I think flyweight right now is perfect for her, but I do think at some point, bantamweight is going to be the right move for her,” Hardy said. “I think physiologically, she’s very big for this weight class. As we know from guys like Tony Ferguson – if you try to stay in the weight class for too long, your body starts to suffer. If she is dealing with injuries, that might be something to consider in the future. Not just yet, but I would imagine in the next couple years she might have to consider moving up.”
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A fight that could potentially lure Ditcheva up to a higher weight sooner than Hardy predicted would be if the company attempts to put together a matchup with Cris Cyborg, who has been calling out the Brit for her MMA retirement bout, and said she would cut down to 135 pounds to make it happen.
Hardy admits he’s intrigued by that hypothetical contest – he’s just not sure if the timing will align for it to come to reality.
“At 135, I think it would make sense,” Hardy said. “There would be no world where it would be fair for Dakota to have to move up two weight classes to fight Cyborg, but also it wouldn’t be healthy for Cyborg to move any further past 135. I think it makes sense. I think at some point that superfight will be on the table, I just don’t know whether Cyborg will still be around or under contract.
“Right now, if I’m Dakota I’m not thinking about going up a weight class to take on Cyborg then come back down, because I don’t think she would be able to come back down if she let herself grow back into that weight class.”
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To hear more from Hardy, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: PFL’s Dan Hardy predicts big change in Dakota Ditcheva’s future
