Dakota Ditcheva can hit things again. The undefeated PFL flyweight said during Friday’s PFL Chicago broadcast that she had received medical clearance the day before to start punching, and that she expects to be next in line for the winner of the night’s main event between Liz Carmouche and Jena Bishop. Nolan King relayed the news on X, adding that the broadcast was hinting at an early 2027 return.
That main event carried real weight. Carmouche (26-8) and Bishop (11-3) met at Wintrust Arena for the inaugural PFL women’s flyweight championship. The booking was a rematch, and it only happened because Ditcheva was sidelined. Bloody Elbow reported she has been out nursing a hand injury, and called her the promotion’s biggest flyweight star. A sidelined fighter making that kind of announcement on the same broadcast as the title fight is about as subtle as a spinning back fist.
Ditcheva is 16-0. One of those wins came against Bishop, who dropped back-to-back fights to Taila Santos and Ditcheva before rebuilding. Since then Bishop has won three of her last four, including a rear-naked choke of Borena Tsertsvadze in Chicago in April and an armbar on Ariane Lipski at PFL San Diego in June.
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Carmouche arrived at 42 years old riding a four-fight winning streak and 13 wins in her last 14. She stopped Bishop with a third-round TKO in Charlotte in August 2025 to win the PFL’s women’s flyweight tournament, then choked out Viviane Araujo with a second-round guillotine in San Diego this June. Making weight for Chicago took some work, too. Carmouche posted video on Instagram of her head being shaved Thursday after she found herself with .2 left to cut. “It’s just hair!” she wrote.
Carmouche hasn’t been shy about who she wants next. Speaking with Sports Illustrated’s MMA Knockout before the fight, she said she never wants to look past an opponent, then laid out her plan anyway: “So, the only matchup, and the one everyone wants to see, is me vs. Dakota.” She also noted that Ditcheva had been ranked No. 1 in the world and would still sit near the top even after the layoff.
The timing gets interesting beyond the cage. Sports Illustrated’s preview pointed out that the PFL is heading into another transition period with the Most Valuable Promotions merger set for next year, which means Ditcheva’s comeback fight could land on whatever the company looks like after that deal closes.
My take: a hand injury on a striker this sharp is the scariest kind, so “cleared to punch” is a starting line and nothing more. Getting from bag work to five-round title fitness by early 2027 is realistic but tight. Still, if Carmouche walked out of Chicago with the belt, Ditcheva vs. Carmouche is the best women’s fight the PFL can make, a 16-0 knockout artist against a 42-year-old who just shaved her skull to make 125 pounds for a title. Book it for the first card of 2027 that has a real arena attached.
