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I was skeptical when the Professional Fighters League announced its unique season format would expand internationally two years ago. Like many, I wasn’t inspired by the prospect of an all-European fight league and future subsequent regional fight leagues. Who knew it would only take two years to make me eat my words?
PFL co-founder Donn Davis and CEO Peter Murray must be feeling pretty damn brilliant after seeing their dream come to fruition. The PFL 2024 Season Championships secured the best year in the organization’s history, and I don’t know how anybody who calls themselves a true combat sports fan could continue to write off the PFL following Friday’s card.
If you tuned in to the broadcast, you were spoiled by arguably one of the best mixed martial arts fight cards of the year. Before you jump down my throat, I know the spectacle and crowd energy paled compared to UFC 300, Noche UFC at the Las Vegas Sphere, or even the record-breaking Oktagon 62 last October. But in terms of just pure entertaining fights from start to finish, the card brought all the smoke.
From Costello van Steenis’ 46-second knockout to kick things off to the conclusion of the first-ever PFL MENA season, I was already hooked on this telecast before the main card even began. Davis was mad to put 10, five-round championship bouts on the same card, but the gamble paid off. The PFL MENA finals served as an excellent appetizer to the world championship finals; only one of the six global championship fights went the distance, and we saw the birth of the next women’s MMA superstar.
Dakota Ditcheva emphatically cemented herself as the face of the league when she battered, brutalized, and beat down former Ultimate Fighting Championship title contender Taila Santos in two rounds to win the $1 million flyweight grand prize. When Santos bolted for the PFL in March, many felt that her experience would lead to total domination in the PFL. Still, she had no answers for the organization's homegrown star.
At 26, Ditcheva is a lock for the breakout fighter of the year. In 357 days, the Manchester, England,-born sniper has won five straight bouts by TKO, and it all started with her win over Valentina Scatizzi in the PFL Europe finals last December. I’ll admit Ditcheva didn’t appear on my radar after that win, but hindsight is 20/20, and now I see the PFL’s grand vision. The regional leagues have the potential to give fans an early glimpse at its rising stars, and if those fighters continue to succeed on the global level, competitors better watch out.
When Forrest Griffin won the Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” only to become UFC light heavyweight champion three years later, it not only legitimized the show, but also the UFC’s development strategy. Fans need new faces to follow, or their loyalty will falter. As “TUF” approaches 20 years, 13 former contestants have won UFC gold. The PFL has the potential to streamline the journey from prospect to champion.
Former regional league champions like Ditcheva will be monumental in the PFL’s mission to fight for MMA market share. While the career rebirths of fighters like Impa Kasanganay and Olivier Aubin-Mercier were inspiring, the PFL was swimming against the current by crowning fighters who couldn’t reach the pinnacle in other leagues. Fans need to believe that the PFL’s best can compete with the UFC’s best, and after Friday’s shellacking, I’m very confident that Ditcheva could give UFC flyweight empress Valentina Shevchenko a run for her money.
Only time will tell if the upcoming PFL Europe Finals and PFL Africa, slated to premiere in 2025, will continue to curate exciting prospects. However, if PFL continues to develop talent in house, then the gap between the top two MMA organizations in the world will continue to tighten.