PFL Africa: Dakota Ditcheva says lack of challengers has been ‘difficult’

When Dakota Ditcheva became the first British woman to win an MMA world title, she had no idea of the frustration that would follow.

After the 26-year-old’s historic win over Taila Santos in the PFL flyweight final – her fourth victory in a golden 2024 – she had all the momentum.

Congratulations poured in from icons of women’s MMA, including Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but soon the narrative would develop.

The question starting to form on everybody’s lips after that career-high moment in November was “what’s next?”.

Ditcheva was ready to fight anyone, but the dominant way in which she had dispatched her opponents – including three first-round stoppages and one in the second round – meant there were no worthy challengers left in the promotion.

“Obviously, with me walking through them last year it’s made it difficult,” Ditcheva tells BBC Sport.

“It’s definitely frustrating. I did so well last year – I fought in the cage four times and obviously the last one was a big one and drew a lot of attention, but now I felt like my momentum had kind of dropped off.

“Santos was the top girl in the division and the fact I walked through her so easily is another thing which made this year so difficult. They [the PFL] didn’t know which direction to put me in.”