Dakota Ditcheva is cleared to fight and wants the winner PFL Chicago’s women’s flyweight championship fight.
That would be Jena Bishop, who defeated Liz Carmouche on Saturday night to win the 125-pound belt. Carmouche had previously beaten Bishop, but this time Bishop was too clever and took a 48-47 decision on all three judges’ scorecards. Now, Bishop has a chance to avenge another past loss: his 2024 tournament semifinal appearance loss to Ditcheva.
The good news is that he may not have to wait long. Although Ditcheva stated that she broke both arms (again) during her win over Denise Kielholtz in July, “Dangerous” says her doctors have cleared her to strike out in training and she wants to return to the cage in early 2027.
“The recovery is good,” Ditcheva said on PFL Chicago before the Bishop-Carmouche fight. “I was cleared yesterday to go back to training now so I can quietly start punching again. I’ve already wrestled so everything feels good like last time.”
“I’ll be ready to go by February, March. I’d love to come in and challenge somebody for the belt.”
Breaking hands so regularly can cause worrying self-confidence issues, but Ditcheva has her own way of dealing with the situation.
“The universe makes its way for me and I just follow it,” he said. “And if it means two broken arms, it means two broken arms. It’s about me, I just got in and won three rounds and comfortably won the whole fight with two broken arms. Tell me what I can’t do now!”
“Like, I can go in and do it for three or five more rounds. That’s totally fine. So I think that’s the mindset I’m going for. If it happens again, I’m not going to focus on it, but if it does, I know I can fight and still win.”
Dicheva is 16-0 and is considered one of the most exciting women in mixed martial arts right now. The next step in his career is to become a champion and we have no doubt that the PFL will put this fight up next. Now all he has to do is stop breaking his arms.
