Dakota Ditcheva cleared after double hand surgery, wants Jena Bishop title fight

MMA-TV Newsroom Summarized with AI Yesterday at 9:03 PM AI checked Today at 1:40 AM

The bottom line

Dakota Ditcheva is cleared and training after double hand surgery, and wants a PFL flyweight title fight with champion Jena Bishop in February or March; nothing is booked.

From 5 reports by 4 outlets

Dakota Ditcheva cleared after double hand surgery, wants Jena Bishop title fight — Photo via BJPenn.com · added Yesterday at 9:03 PM

What we know

Ditcheva says she is fully cleared and back in training after surgery on both hands, about nine weeks after the operation.
Ditcheva injured both hands in her win over Denise Kielholtz this past summer and needed surgery.
Ditcheva is asking for a title fight against Jena Bishop in February or March and does not know whether the PFL will push it back.
Jena Bishop holds the PFL flyweight title after beating Liz Carmouche.
No fight or date has been announced.

Reported, not confirmed

Ditcheva stopped Bishop in round one when they met in 2024. Pos-Luta

Dakota Ditcheva has her hands back, and now she wants the belt she never held. The undefeated PFL flyweight told Ariel Helwani she is cleared, training again, and waiting only on a date.

The surgery followed her win over Denise Kielholtz this past summer, when she injured both hands. Ditcheva said she healed quickly this time, about nine weeks from the operation. She has been grappling for a few weeks and eased back into striking, reasoning that with no fight booked there was no reason to rush.

The target is Jena Bishop, who has since taken the flyweight title from Liz Carmouche. Ditcheva said she did not care much about the belt when nobody held it, but that seeing Bishop with it has made her jealous and motivated. The two have met before: in 2024, according to Pos-Luta, Ditcheva won by first-round technical knockout.

Ditcheva also described a strange faceoff with Bishop, who she says complimented her top while looking uncomfortable, after Bishop and her teammates had talked in the comments under PFL posts before their first fight. The hands carry scars from multiple surgeries, and she shrugged them off: "It is what it is, and I feel like it's just part of my story."

She is 28 and, by the count Pos-Luta gives, 16-0. Knockout Daily notes that Yahoo's Uncrowned panel ranks her No. 6 on its women's pound-for-pound list and calls the rematch close to inevitable.

What to watch for is the promotion's answer. Ditcheva said she does not know whether the PFL will push the date back, and nothing has been announced.

Summary: Dakota Ditcheva is cleared and training after double hand surgery, and wants a PFL flyweight title fight with champion Jena Bishop in February or March; nothing is booked.

Key points (one per line): Ditcheva says she is fully cleared and back in training nine weeks after surgery on both hands.
She wants the PFL flyweight title held by Jena Bishop, asking for February or March.
No fight or date has been announced.