So, after her one-sided victory over Sumiko Inaba at the PFL Champions Series event in Cape Town, South Africa, Ditcheva’s announcement that she had re-signed with the Professional Fighters League raised plenty of eyebrows.
Many of the reactions online were of disappointment. Fans would love to see how Ditcheva would fare in the UFC’s women’s flyweight division, where matchups with the likes of Alexa Grasso, Natalia Silva, Manon Fiorot and reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko were all potential future bouts.
Others see the ball being very much in the PFL’s court. If the PFL is to live up to its aim of being a “co-leader” in global MMA, then keeping their best fighters on their books is certainly a must. But simply re-signing fighters like Ditcheva is only part of the job. Having signed Ditcheva to a new contract, the onus is now on the PFL to provide the sort of fights to satisfy her competitive desires.
That may well mean signing more talent to their 125-pound division.
For Ditcheva, you can be sure that she’s being well compensated for sticking with the PFL. A move to the UFC makes all the sense in the world from a competitive standpoint, and the UFC has a stronger flyweight roster of fighters to test Ditcheva’s skills. There’s also the lure of capturing a UFC title, which remains the gold standard in MMA for fighters.
But the PFL may be able to offer more to Ditcheva in other areas. Greater access to commercial opportunities could be one such avenue – for example, Ditcheva featured in repeated showings of a promo for Dubai, and may have been well remunerated for her involvement.
It’s also worth noting that, for a fighter who only turns 27 next week, Ditcheva still has plenty of gas in the tank, career-wise. She could fight through her next deal, then move to the UFC, and still be in her fighting prime.
But right now, in 2025, Ditcheva is a PFL fighter, and she’ll move ahead as part of the promotion as one of their very biggest stars, alongside the likes of Usman Nurmagomedov, Paul Hughes and Cedric Doumbe, all of whom also have huge fan support.
If the PFL can keep that trio on their books, alongside Ditcheva, then look to smartly add more talented, top-drawer talent, better things should be on the horizon for the organisation in 2025 and beyond. But right now, what they need to do is get their newly re-signed star some compelling matchups so “Dangerous” can do what everybody wants to see her do – perform inside the cage.
