Retired UFC lightweight, Din Thomas, believes PFL phenom Dakota Ditcheva has the potential to become the biggest star in UFC. So how does UFC CEO, Dana White, free her from the clutches of Donn Davis and
Co.? Trade Ditcheva for UFC light heavyweight champion, Magomed Ankalaev, in a deal not unlike the one that saw Demetrious Johnson go to ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren.
After all, “everybody won.”
“Not only am I doubling down, I’m tripling down,” Thomas said. “I am still saying that it would be a better trade. Dakota Ditcheva, a blonde-headed, girl next door, a pretty girl that has an 80-percent knockout rate. she would be the biggest star in the UFC.”
Former UFC heavyweight, Brendan Schaub, suggests PFL dropped the ball on Ditcheva.
“I agree with Din,” Schaub said on YouTube. “Is she more talented than Magomed? No, but that’s where the women’s side of fighting is at right now. They’ve also had a much later start, so we’re gonna see bigger stars and better stars, but Magomed will never be a star here. It’s just not in the cards for him. It will never happen. So, as far as monetizing and celebrity, Din’s 100-percent correct. If you just take yourself out of the purity of the sport, you have a very pretty female star, a lot of similarities to Ronda Rousey, right? And then you have a guy at light heavyweight, who — insane fighter, world champion — but he’s just not making a connection to the American fan base. If they did a trade, it would be great for the UFC. It would be terrible for the PFL.”
It wouldn’t be the first time PFL lost one of its top female fighters.
“When Din said they should do a trade for Dakota and Magomed, he’s saying this is what would be better for the UFC,” Schaub continued. “Of course. This is what’s better for the UFC. Awful trade for the PFL, awful trade. But my question for the PFL and the owners over there is, what are you doing with Dakota to bring in revenue to make her a bigger star? Beause the hardcore fans, we all know Dakota. She’s a f—king savage, pretty girl. PFL is sitting on a f—king diamond, but they don’t know how to polish that diamond. They can’t. They don’t know how. They don’t know what the f—k they’re doing. So Magomed, even with the UFC’s marketing machine, all that stuff, they’ve squeezed all the juice they can. There’s nothing we can do. So, even if Dakota’s not champion, even if she doesn’t have the accolades and she doesn’t go on this crazy win streak like Magomed, the UFC is still gonna make more money off Dakota than it would Magomed. It’s just the world we live in.”
Ditcheva, 27, is undefeated at 15-0 with 12 knockouts and one submission.
“The UFC business model now would make more money off Dakota than with Magomed,” Schaub said. “Bar none. As a matter of fact, Magomed is actually hurting the UFC. It’s f—ked up to say because if he goes out and beats Alex who’s a much bigger star than him, it actually hurts the UFC. I’m talking about maximizing money, endorsement deals, TV time. A pretty girl who’s very talented who’s a .500 fighter, we can get more money out of [her] than this guy from Dagestan who’s a beast but isn’t good on the mic, his s—t talking is a little dicey. And he’s also so good that the stars you want to be the face of the UFC, he beats. That’s an issue.“
Ankalaev (20-1-1, 1 NC) will defend his light heavyweight title in a rematch against Alex Pereira atop the UFC 320 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat. night (Oct. 4, 2025) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As for Ditcheva, she remains unbooked as of this writing but has two new opponents to look forward to in 2026.
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