PFL star Dakota Ditcheva has broken her hand again and will be out for an undetermined amount of time.
The 16-0 Ditcheva is coming off a dominant three round decision over Denise Kielholtz at PFL New York. While she didn’t manage to score a highlight reel knockout, she put a beating on Kielholtz and reminded the world after a year long absence why she’s the hottest up-and-comer in women’s MMA.
Unfortunately, Ditcheva didn’t exit the cage unscathed. In a new YouTube video she revealed that she injured her hands (again) in the fight.
“Breaking news, I am injured again,” Ditcheva said. “I broke my hands in the fight. I could feel it from the moment I started the second round. I didn’t tell my corner. I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t show it this time, and I didn’t tell anybody until I got out of the cage.”
“I am back in splints until my surgeon has decided what the next steps are going forward, which will be in the next few days,” she added before explaining this was a previous break that has broken once more. Ditcheva has broken both her hands in the past, but only opted to get surgery on one.
“The hand that wasn’t operated on originally that I broke, at the end of last year, I was told that if I didn’t go ahead with the surgery at that time, there was possibility that it would break again in my fight. And unfortunately, I took the risk in not doing the surgery because I was hoping that it would hold strong without intervening with that kind of thing. And it didn’t. So it’s no new injury.”
“One of my breaks that I had in my original hand actually has held up perfectly fine, and I have no pain from it,” she continued. “There’s just a small, break on the other finger that didn’t hold as well. So I’m taking the positives from it. No new breaks. Only a little bit needs fixing.”
“And, obviously, with this one, it was a choice of mine to have the surgery the first time, and I didn’t. So therefore, I’m paying the price for it now, and I will be out for a little bit.”
This couldn’t come at a worse time for the PFL, who only have so many marquee fighters on the roster that move the needle. Lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov just entered free agency and is expected to jump to the UFC. And now Ditcheva could be out for another year due to these continued hand issues.
“I have honestly cried nonstop the last week, I think yesterday and today is the [first] days that I haven’t cried at all,” she admitted. “This is not gonna take me out. My career is not done, although it felt like that once again. I will be back. I’m hopefully gonna be back quicker than I was last time.”