‘I can’t live without fighting’ – Dakota Ditcheva makes MMA admission ahead of PFL Europe play-off

Ditcheva returns to action on September 30 in Paris when she battles Cornelia Holm (6-5) for a spot in the final of the $100,000 tournament.

The Brit impressed in the first round of the event by taking out Malin Hermansson in the first round with a rear naked choke.

Her attention now turns to Sweden’s Holm as Ditcheva looks to improve her unbeaten professional record.

The 24-year-old has been training for the fight with American Top Team over in Florida.

“One of the things I do like is that I don’t determine what’s on my schedule,” she told Planet Sport.

“My head coach will set the schedule, set the session and that’s what I turn up for.

“I think that’s really important because people who set their own schedules, they make it a little bit easier [for themselves] and I don’t think that’s a good thing.

“The fact I have a schedule set by someone else, I feel like my dedication is ‘you do it or get out of here’.”

Ditcheva is a multi-time Muay Thai world champion, though she is beginning to make serious noise in her early MMA career.

The PFL star admitted that her love for the sport is her primary motivator, saying: “If I take it back to when I used to fight Thai boxing, my mum used to ask me ‘are you just doing it for the money? What are you doing it for? If you didn’t get paid, would you still do it?’

“For me, I would still fight because I can’t live a life without fighting. I don’t know what it is. The same like Tyson Fury when he says he’s retired and then he can’t, he comes back to it.

“I’m the same. If I’m not fighting, I’m craving that adrenaline you get. I never started it for the money and that’s probably what makes me so dedicated and makes me love the sport.

“I’m not in it because I’m getting rich from it. I was in it at the beginning because I love to do it. That’s probably why I lasted so long, still going and doing well at the moment.

“The money helps now, for sure. I’m still fighting for money now, but I do it because I love it.”

PFL Europe 3, which includes Ditcheva’s bout with Holm, will be shown live on DAZN for fans in the United Kingdom.