From Manchester Fighter to PFL Flyweight: Dakota Ditcheva's Story

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00:00First you know for those people who may not know enough or haven't been watching

00:07enough to know more about you obviously you were someone who born over in

00:12Manchester and you know did a lot of fighting over there joint came up from

00:16the PFL Europe now over in the regular PFL fighting for the flyweight title

00:20here what was that like for you to make that big change obviously to go from

00:24training and living and you know where you've grown up and where you've

00:27accustomed to to now you know living in Florida training in Florida working out

00:31at 80 TT what was that big change like for you and how'd you you know come to

00:35make that decision as you get ready to make the next leap in your career yeah I

00:39mean it was a very big decision for me to move my mom has been my coach for my

00:44full career in Thai boxing even very much involved when I transitioned over

00:48to MMA at the start of my career so it was definitely a really big move I think

00:52the weather in Florida and the place made it a lot easier you know I

00:55absolutely love living here so and yeah it was it was a big move though you know

01:00and I really made sure that it was the right decision by you know traveling

01:04traveling a little bit around the state so different gyms at the beginning just

01:09to see where I settled the most and as soon as I came to a TT I just knew

01:12exactly like what the fact that I wanted to stay there you know I really fit in

01:17at the gym and the area I really loved which is really important it felt very

01:21much like home which was important to me because you know and I haven't been at

01:25home my whole life and never moved out I've always lived with my parents and my

01:28siblings it was you know I needed that homely feeling and I really got that

01:32ATT so yeah the move was big but it's you know been a massive blessing on my

01:37career it's really helped and then yeah that's kind of what's got me to the

01:40point I am now and that's great to hear I love what you're saying there that you

01:45know mom's been the coach the whole time because that's not something usually

01:48here a lot in combat sports usually when it's like I want to be like my dad or my

01:51dad did this yes following him and you know mom was kind of like has it and

01:55didn't want me to do it so for you to say like my mom's always been my coach

01:58she's the one pushing me through she's the one you know help me be the badass

02:01that I am that's always nice to hear that's how did that come to be was it

02:05just you grew up watching her and you know what she's did in combat sports and

02:09decided that you want to follow in her footsteps how'd it all come to be and

02:12was she you know as supportive because a lot of times with dad it's like dad and

02:15his little girl a lot of them like you know what I don't want her doing this

02:18what is was it different with mom which is like yeah you know if you want to be

02:21a badass like me then let's go yeah I mean at the beginning my mom didn't

02:26want me to be a fighter and she obviously she's been through the

02:29fighting scenarios herself she knows the feelings and the hard work and you know

02:33the sacrifice you have to make so it wasn't really something that she

02:36necessarily wanted her kids to do I have two brothers as well and it wasn't

02:40something that she ever really wanted them to do either but you know I had a

02:44few fights when I was like four years old because she was she has her own gym

02:47in Manchester so I was around it and kind of you know training with the kids

02:51and things like that but from like the age of four to 13 she put me in like

02:55loads of different sports but she literally tried everything to keep me

02:58away from fighting and which I did do a lot of different sports but when I was

03:02like 13 14 I came back to it myself and that was like something that I decided

03:07to do and she has definitely coped with it a lot better than my dad my dad on

03:10the other hand isn't a fighter he's kind of had support with it with my mom he

03:14helped her obviously when she was fighting but then now he's got it with

03:17his own daughter and it's it's hard for him he doesn't cope with the nerves as

03:21well as my mom does my mom kind of just gets the feelings of like she's fighting

03:25again you know so she knows how to control them she's been through it that

03:28much but with my dad it's a total different story I do really feel sorry

03:31for him

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