Dan Hardy believes a potential fight between PFL superstar Dakota Ditcheva and UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko would have a decisive victor.

2024 PFL flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva is arguably the face of the league after a torrid start to her MMA career. Following Kayla Harrison’s PFL departure last year, Ditcheva has become one of the league’s biggest stars and is one of the most talked-about athletes in women’s MMA.

While Ditcheva’s rise has been a quick ascent, Valentina Shevchenko has been at the top of the women’s pound-for-pound rankings for years. Outside of a few close calls, Shevchenko has dominated most of her flyweight rivals.

Once Ditcheva’s current PFL deal expires, the UK standout could be on her way to the UFC Octagon. If that happens, and Shevchenko is still competing, a top PFL analyst believes Ditcheva would recreate what she did in the PFL inside the UFC Octagon.

Dan Hardy: Dakota Ditcheva takes down Valentina Shevchenko in potential fight

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, PFL analyst Dan Hardy sided with Ditcheva in a potential superfight against Shevchenko.
“I would put my money on her [Ditcheva] against Valentina right now. That’s with all due respect to Valentina, who I’ve held in high regard for a long time. The thing that Valentina always made challenging about my job when I was doing Inside the Octagon for the UFC was there’s no highlight reel moments in her fights really,” Hardy said of Shevchenko.

“Very, very rarely—and that’s because she completely dominates people with just this steady pace. The kind of person that would break that style of fighting is someone that attacks ferociously. Dakota’s got the height and reach, the power, she’s got the viciousness, and the reality is American Top Team is probably one of the toughest mats, especially for a female fighter. I’ve got to expect her to at least hold her own on the ground with Valentina, if not be able to defend the takedowns.

“I think Dakota beats anybody right now in her weight class. I think pound-for-pound, if she’s not top three, then I’m crazy,” Hardy continued. “I think she has a damn good chance against anybody and even going up to bantamweight and fighting there and having a lot of success there as well.” (h/t MMA News)

First things first for Shevchenko as she prepares to fight UFC strawweight champ Zhang Weili at UFC 322 later this year. It’ll be the UFC’s latest superfight at a time when the flyweight division desperately needs new, fresh contenders.

As for Ditcheva, she hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision win over Sumiko Inaba at PFL Cape Town in July.