Dakota Ditcheva: British star extends unbeaten run to become first British woman to be MMA world champion
Dakota Ditcheva has won all 14 of her contests as a professional fighter; her vanquished opponent Taila Santos is a former UFC women's flyweight belt contender; Sale-born Ditcheva, 26, has now stopped opponents in 13 of her 14 bouts
Saturday 30 November 2024 09:31, UK
Dakota Ditcheva has made history by becoming the first British woman to hold a world mixed martial arts world title.
The 26-year-old Muay Thai fighter moved to 14-0 in her professional career with an emphatic stoppage of former UFC title contender Taila Santos in Riyadh to win the Professional Fighters League (PFL) flyweight title.
Ditcheva ended the contest with a flurry of body shots in the second round for her 13th win by stoppage, against a world class star in Santos, as the Brazilian suffered just her fourth professional defeat in 26 contests - and her first outside the UFC.
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Santos attempted to try and slow the Sale-born star down with her grappling skills but Ditcheva's striking proved too strong and she used knees and kicks early on before raining elbows and body shots - very much living up to her 'Dangerous' nickname - although the Brit was picking her shots and had already folded her opponent by the time the fight was stopped.
Ditcheva admitted afterwards that she felt some satisfaction in beating Santos, who had made disparaging remarks in the build-up to the fight.
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"She's a tough girl but I knew what I was capable of," Ditcheva said. "She's been saying 'she's just a Barbie, she should be a model'.
"Well, a model just beat your a** in round two, so shut up."
Ditcheva secured $1m (£785,361) in prize money with the victory and believes she beat the best opponent available to her in the PFL.
"I've been telling you, I've tried to tell you, I just keep proving them wrong," Ditcheva added.
"The world is mine. I just beat the best girl out there. Me and PFL will come out with something amazing again."
It was not such good news for fellow Brit Brendan Loughnane, who followed Ditcheva's victory by fighting in the main event.
Loughnane lost by unanimous decision to Russia's Timur Khizriev as he attempted to win the PFL featherweight world title for the second time.
