PFL queen Dakota Ditcheva is undoubtedly one of the fastest rising stars in the sport, but how exactly would she stack up against the best of the best from her division across all promotions?
Veteran analyst and one-time UFC welterweight title contender Dan Hardy has zero doubts that she would do just fine. In fact, Hardy argues that Ditcheva’s devastating striking, aggression and size to stand toe-to-toe with anybody in the sport already gives her the potential to beat anybody in the women’s flyweight division.
That includes reigning UFC champion Valentina Shevchenko.
“I would put my money on her against Valentina right now,” Hardy told MMA Fighting. “That’s with all due respect to Valentina, who I’ve held in high regard for a long time. The thing that Valentina always made challenging about my job when I was doing Inside the Octagon for the UFC, was there’s no highlight reel moments in her fights really. Very, very rarely and that’s because she completely dominates people with just this steady pace.
“The kind of person that would break that style of fighting is someone that attacks ferociously. Like Dakota’s got the height and reach, the power, she’s got the viciousness and the reality is American Top Team is probably one of the toughest mats, especially for a female fighter.”
While her striking acumen is well known, Ditcheva hasn’t had to show too much of her ground game during her undefeated run through the PFL ranks.
But Hardy has confidence that Ditcheva could handle herself against any style, which includes when Shevchenko transforms into a grappling first fighter as she did during a lopsided victory over Alexa Grasso to reclaim the 125-pound title back in 2024.
“I’ve got to expect her to at least hold her own on the ground with Valentina, if not be able to defend the takedowns,” Hardy said. “I think Dakota beats anybody right now in her weight class.
“I think pound-for-pound, if she’s not top three, then I’m crazy. I think she has a damn good chance against anybody and even going up to bantamweight and fighting there and having a lot of success there as well.”
Prior to her most recent win in PFL, Ditcheva turned a lot of heads when she scored a vicious second-round knockout over former UFC title challenger Taila Santos, who took Shevchenko to a razor-close split decision when they met.
Hardy looks at Ditcheva as the total package with the ability to dismantle any opponent across the cage from her no matter the pedigree.
“She is ideally built to be a striker in mixed martial arts,” Hardy said. “She’s got that ability to have those long range limbs to attack you with. She can be overbearing like Anderson Silva was with her clinch against the likes of Rich Franklin. I feel like she’s physiologically built for mixed martial arts and also for the skill set that she’s got. She could be a fantastic Muay Thai fighter but if she was 5-foot-2, it wouldn’t be nearly as effective with the skills that she’s got.
“I also feel like she’s early in her career, too, which is quite terrifying. She’s achieved so much already and that’s why I feel like bantamweight could be in her future because she’s going to certainly be able to shift gears and add more power to her frame.”
Prior to her recent win over Sumiko Inaba at the PFL Champions Series card in South Africa, Ditcheva inked a new multi-fight, multi-year deal with the promotion that she’s called home since 2022.
Ditcheva has arguably become the face of the PFL during her dominant run but now the promotion has to do right by her and that means bringing in top level competition for her to face.
Hardy agrees that PFL has to pursue free agents and continue building new challengers, because that’s not only what Ditcheva deserves, but also she needs if there’s going to come a day when she’s almost universally recognized as the best women’s flyweight in the sport.
“It’s essential,” Hardy said. “She’s a special talent. She’s at that stage in her career where she needs those challenges to keep her moving forward. I mean her decision not to go back into the season to the tournament this year is probably is smart. Because two years back-to-back where you’re in a cycle where you’ve got three fights back-to-back, four fights back-to-back, even if the fights were comfortable for her at times, the training camps at American Top Team were pretty arduous.
“So I think the best thing for her is to get a couple of good fights this year, a couple of good challenges and then see where she is at the start of next year.”
