Dakota Ditcheva’s star certainly appears to be on the rise.
As Ditcheva moves ever closer to her forthcoming showdown with Hermansson at 125 pounds, here are five things you might not know about her:
1. Hand-to-hand combat runs in her blood.
Ditcheva was born into a martial arts family on July 11, 1998 in Sale, England—some 200 miles northwest of London. Her mother, Lisa Howarth, was a multiple-time world champion in kickboxing, having won titles in 1987, 1993 and 1995.
2. She enjoyed a trial run as a champion.
The 24-year-old Ditcheva struck gold as an amateur mixed martial artist. She captured the UK Fighting Championships flyweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over Shauna Bannon in February 2020. Ditcheva made her professional debut a little more than a year later.
3. She sought the iron-sharpens-iron path.
A Manchester Top Team product, Ditcheva supplements her training at the famed American Top Team camp in Coconut Creek, Florida, which offers her access to any number of world-class coaches, including former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Mike Thomas Brown, Marcus “Conan” Silveira and onetime Strikeforce titleholder Muhammed Lawal.
4. Quick-strike capabilities are part of the package.
Five of Ditcheva’s seven victories have ended inside one round. She authored her fastest finish to date in her Professional Fighters League debut, as she forced Hassna Gaber to submit to a knee strike to the body 58 seconds into their pairing at PFL 9 on Aug. 20, 2022.
5. She was a sought-after talent from the start.
Ditcheva competed in five different organizations in her first five appearances prior to signing with the PFL in 2022: Caged Steel, Celtic Gladiator, UK Fighting Championships, Pallas Athena Women’s Fighting Championship and UAE Warriors.