MMA star Dakota Ditcheva ready to dedicate PFL Europe belt to parents and brother after being coached by fighting family
MMA star Dakota Ditcheva is ready to dedicate winning the PFL Europe title to her family of coaches.
The former Muay Thai champion is in the final of the three-stage tournament this Friday in Dublin.
She currently trains out in Florida but shares her time in Manchester at her mum’s gym, where she is also coached by brother Cody.
Ditcheva’s family have been with her every step of the way as she prepares to face Valentina Scatizzi with the PFL Europe belt and $100,00 prize on the line.
She told SunSport: “There’s no other people I’m closer to than my family so to have them around me is all I want.
“I don’t think I can do it without them – or I definitely wouldn’t enjoy this life as much if I didn’t have them around, surrounding me all the time.
“They’re definitely a bit part of it and make things a lot easier.”
Flyweight Ditcheva, 24, progressed to the last two with a pair of stoppage wins.
Her last came in Paris in September and she revealed her knockout combination was practised on brother Cody several times in the gym.
She said: “It’s something we throw on the pads all the time, it’s definitely something we’ve worked on again on the pads.
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“But it’s nothing I’m fixated on. I never actually fixate on any sort of shot or any sort of finish, I just work on what comes naturally.”
Ditcheva is younger than Cody and enjoys giving the older sibling a whack or two in the gym.
She joked: “We don’t argue much at all but when we do have a bit of a bicker in the house when we go to the gym I always end up letting it out on the pads.
“I’ll always catch him every round. So it’s how we settle our arguments. He takes a lot of stick, he’s quite good like that.
“He trains me a lot and he teaches all day, everyday, PTs and running my mum’s gym with her, then he trains me.
“He definitely takes a lot from me but he’s happy to be a part of it and a little bit of what goes in when I’m in that cage.”
Ditcheva reunited with her family ahead of the finale showpiece having started camp in her adopted Coconut Creek home.
She said: “Although I like my space, I’m very, very close with my mum.
“She’s not just mum, she’s my coach, she’s my best friend, it was a lot being away from her and I think I was ready to just come back and get back in the gym.
“I’ve always said if I could move my mum’s gym to Florida it would be absolutely perfect because it’s the only place that I miss the most when I’m away.”
Ditcheva is looking to return home to America as a European champion – but the title belt will not be going with.
She said: “It’s staying with my parents. It’s going to be their belt.”