Preview: 2025 PFL Africa 1

Women’s Flyweights

Dakota Ditcheva (14-0, 9-0 PFL) vs. Sumiko Inaba (8-1, 1-0 PFL)

If the PFL has its way, Ditcheva could become the new face of women’s MMA. The 26-year-old Manchester, England native has crushed every single fighter that’s appeared on her path to stardom. After cruising through the PFL Europe tournament, she brutally claimed the PFL World Tournament flyweight title with three-straight TKO victories. But what makes Ditcheva so dangerous? It’s extremely rare to see a fighter who throws strikes as purposefully as Ditcheva. She throws high volume but still picks her shots efficiently. She expertly sneaks in body shots in the middle of her combinations, while staying defensively disciplined. Ditcheva doesn’t charge into fights looking for one big shot. She establishes her quick footwork and takes center cage using her jabs, crosses and teeps to put fighters on the back foot. As she walks opponents down with her fast combinations, she’ll still make the right read to counter with power. Ditcheva has a destructive body attack that drains the will out of her opponents. In her fight against Taila Santos, Ditcheva wore down the former UFC title contender with liver shots and knees to the gut. This drains fighters and forces them to lower their guard, allowing Ditcheva to diversify her attack. In 14 fights, Ditcheva has knocked out 12 opponents and only made it out of the first round four times. Her ability to neutralize her opponent's offense and overwhelm is unlike anything the PFL has seen before.

Inaba will have her work cut out for her against Ditcheva, but you can guarantee she’ll put on a fight. Like Ditcheva, Inaba is another fighter who prefers to work fast and put the opposition away early. The Hawaii native exploded onto the Bellator scene in 2020 after an impressive amateur career and immediately started putting foes on her highlight reel. In her last fight, Inaba stopped Mackenzie Stiller late in the second round. Inaba was the better fighter for most of the battle, pumping jabs into Stiller’s face and showing great technical boxing. Still, she struggles with staying on the center line when she punches. This makes her vulnerable in the pocket, and if she doesn’t move her head, she’ll be picked apart with ease.

Ditcheva is the PFL’s golden child. She’s a walking example that the pipeline from the international leagues to the world tournament can develop the next wave of MMA talent. Inaba is a massive underdog to win this fight, let alone survive the first round. Ditcheva is younger, faster, more accomplished, and ultimately better than Inaba in every facet of the game. Ditcheva will walk through her like every opponent she’s faced and dispatch her effortlessly. It’s no question that she’s the real deal, but with the PFL keeping her out of the tournament, there’s little competition that can bring the best out of her abilities. Inaba is not on her level, and she’ll painfully make that apparent. The only question involves how long she can last.



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Eblen vs. Van Steenis
Ditcheva vs. Inaba
McKee vs. Magomedov
Zaynukov vs. Izumi
Anderson vs. Goltsov
The Prelims