WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2024 Professional
Fighters League season saw a new weight class open up, and as a
direct result, a star was born in the women’s flyweight
division.
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When the company announced the women’s flyweight division as part
of its regular season in 2024, much attention was paid to newcomer
Dakota
Ditcheva, the 2023 PFL Europe champion. Now part of the global
season, fans wanted to see how Ditcheva would transition to tougher
challenges on the global roster, with more media and attention
surrounding her. So far, it’s been nothing but success for both
sides. That success has given Donn Davis and the PFL team an
opportunity to consider adding more weight classes in the near
future.
There has been no denying the success of Ditcheva in her 2024
regular season and playoff run. She would make quick work in all
three of her fights this year, picking up first-round finishes
against Lisa
Mauldin and Chelsea
Hackett in the regular season, then doing so again against
Jena
Bishop in the semifinals earlier this month.
With Ditcheva as the best example to what happens with PFL in-house
success and new weight classes, Davis and the PFL have something to
consider in terms of opening up more divisions in 2025. Speaking to
the media in Washington, D.C., as the PFL wrapped up its
semifinals, Davis was asked about what it would take to open up
more divisions.
Given the PFL’s acquisition of the Bellator
MMA roster in 2024, there were more eyes on the product with
new fighters in the regular season, and that means an emphasis on
having the very best talent on the roster.
“It’s a great question. More divisions in our global season is
something we look at,” Davis said. “We don’t want to dilute the
product. This year in 2024 everybody sees how much tougher the
season is than last year once we acquired all the Bellator
fighters. The statistic that is super interesting that doesn’t get
reported enough: Of the Top 300 fighters, 190 are UFC, 85 are in
PFL. So 275 of the top 300 fighters in the world are in these two
promotions.”
His answer revealed that there is a drawn-out process to open up a
division, and it would mean many new fighters who have proven to be
the best of their weight class.
“So to win four times in eight months, that’s the toughest in MMA
and this year that product is that good,” Davis said. “We don’t
want to add new weight classes unless the 10 fighters in that
weight class can really be that good. We’re looking to add more
[weight classes] all the time, but we don’t want to just add a
weight class that’s not that strong, we want to do it the right
way.”