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Andreas Hale, ESPN
Dakota Ditcheva, who has been discussed as the best women’s fighter in the world to not compete in the UFC following her dominant PFL title win last week, revealed Friday that the UFC has made a play to acquire her through a potential trade.
Ditcheva, an undefeated 26-year-old, told Sirius XM’s “MMA Today” that the PFL declined the offer and that she remains under contract with the organization.
“I heard a rumor that that already has been asked for,” Ditcheva said of the UFC’s trade offer, “and it was declined.”
Sources confirmed to ESPN that a trade for Ditcheva was proposed and subsequently denied by the PFL. The UFC did not respond to requests for comment.
Ditcheva declined to reveal the other fighter involved in the proposed trade.
“It wasn’t 100 percent set, but I did hear it floating around that [the UFC] did ask for a swap,” Ditcheva said.
When asked why the trade fell apart, Ditcheva kept it simple: “I mean, would PFL want to let me go?” she said.
A relatively unproven prospect heading into 2024, Ditcheva went 4-0 with four knockouts this year, capped by her finish of former UFC women’s flyweight title contender Taila Santos in the PFL’s 125-pound women’s tournament final. The win improved her record to 14-0.
The UFC has brokered deals with other fighting promotions in the past.
In 2018, the UFC sent former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to Asia’s ONE Championship for former welterweight champion Ben Askren.
Johnson would go 5-1 with the promotion, win the ONE flyweight championship and retire as champion in 2024. Askren fought three times for the UFC, losing twice, including a violent defeat to Jorge Masvidal in 2019 when he was on the wrong end of a flying knee knockout. Askren retired from MMA following a 2019 submission loss to Demian Maia and was knocked out by Jake Paul when he tried his hand at boxing in 2021.
The UFC would get an immediate spark if it acquired Ditcheva, with her youth, marketability and skill set. With 12 of her 14 wins coming by way of knockout, Ditcheva would likely make a quick ascent up the ladder, similar to the path former PFL fighter Kayla Harrison has taken since joining the promotion earlier this year.
But Ditcheva doesn’t believe her time is up with the PFL.
“I feel like we’ve got so much left to do,” she said. “I mean, we’re heading into Dubai in January. I really want to do a Manchester card, and I think PFL are the people to bring it to Manchester. So, we’re not done. We’re not done.”
Ditcheva said she believes she has plenty of time before joining the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
“You don’t normally see champions at the top of their game until they are 31 or 32,” she said. “So to be able to hang with these girls right now is promising, but I won’t let it get to my head too much. We’ll see what happens. I’d love to see myself in four more years and see where I’m at then.”