Exclusive: Dakota Ditcheva taking no liberties with ‘serious’ PFL Europe finalist Valentina Scatizzi

The Brit entered professional MMA in 2021 and has since racked up a 9-0 record, with seven of those coming by way of knockout.

A year later, Ditcheva was signed by the PFL and after a couple of showcase bouts, the 25-year-old was thrust into the first ever PFL Europe tournament.

In her quarter-final bout, the flyweight tapped out Malin Hermansson in the very first round. Her semi-final victory was similarly impressive as she bagged a third-round stoppage over Cornelia Holm.

Ditcheva is now setting her sights on December 8 and the PFL Europe finals in Dublin which offer a cool $100k for the winner.

The American Top Team star will battle for the six-figure cheque against Italy’s Valentina Scatizzi who reached the final courtesy of a bye.

The 2-1 flyweight defeated Lizzy Gevers by split decision in her quarter-final outing, though is a massive underdog heading into Dublin.

Despite this, Ditcheva is not taking the fight lightly, telling Planet Sport: “I take every opponent serious. I didn’t get to see her fight in the last round, she got a bye.

“I haven’t watched her first fight either to be honest. I’m just going to go in there and expect a tough fight and see what happens.

“I’m just looking forward to getting in there for the last time this year and seeing what happens. It’s not been long since my last one so it’s nice to stay busy and get straight back in again.”

This will be Ditcheva’s third fight of the year. When asked about staying active, she added: “Last year I had four fights, so I do like to stay busy anyway. The break between the March fight and September was probably a bit long for me.

“I suppose it gave me time to live my life a little bit. Do some training that’s a little more relaxed rather than being in camp all the time.

“But I do like to stay busy normally. I’m totally fine with the quick turnaround for this one.”

Fans can watch PFL Europe 4 from Dublin live on DAZN on Friday, December 8.