DAKOTA DITCHEVA is the Brit abroad hailed as the “next MMA superstar” who has Jake Paul and Conor McGregor as fans.
The avid City supporter moved from Manchester to Florida to train at the illustrious American Top Team.
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Signed to the Professional Fighters League, in 2023 she won the three-stage knockout PFL Europe tournament and $100,000 prize.
It earned her a spot in the $1million winner-take-all global season this year which consists of qualification and knockout stages.
In Ditcheva’s first bout of the PFL campaign, she knocked out Chelsea Hackett in round one in a stoppage that went rival.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul – also signed to the PFL – said: “The next MMA superstar…Dakota Ditcheva.”
But down-to-earth Ditcheva did not even see the social media post at first or realise she is followed by UFC icon McGregor.
She told SunSport: “It shocked me. To be honest, I don’t look at comments, because obviously you get the bad with the good, so I never really go through them.
“So I miss a lot but for someone like Jake, it’s massive. Especially with him being with the PFL, it broke the internet and he’s broke the internet quite a few times.
“So to have someone like that obviously mentioning your name is massive, not just for fighting wise, but like promotional wise.
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“Everyone was like, ‘Wow, Jake Paul’s tweeted.’ Even the other day, my brother’s friend actually said, ‘You know Conor McGregor follows Dakota on Twitter?
“And I was like, what? Even stuff like that shocks me all the time. But obviously, to have people like that kind of knowing who you are in the sport is massive.”
Despite the likes of Paul, 27, and others tipping Ditcheva, 25, for big things, the flyweight knows she must prove it in the cage.
She said: “What makes me get confidence is how I’m performing in the gym, not what someone’s writing on the internet, you know?
“So for me, I appreciate the nice comments and things like that, but at the same time, it doesn’t go to my head.
“How I’m performing in the gym is how I how I rate myself. It is nice to know that people are behind you, to hear people talking like that for sure.
“To hear people say, ‘You know, she’s gonna be massive, the next superstar.’ From people that are around so many athletes and so many fighters.
“It is obviously very motivating. But at the same time, I’m more motivated by the way I’m performing in the gym.”
The PFL season starts with two regular season bouts, where points are earned per method of victory.
From there, the top four in each division progress to win the semis before culminating in a series of finale fights where $1m is at stake.
Ditcheva returns on June on August 2 in Nashville against American Jena Bishop looking to book her place in the last four.