Dakota Ditcheva’s head coach has fired back.
Ditcheva scored another huge knockout last Thurs. (June 14, 2024) when crushed Chelsea Hackett with a brutal body shot that sent her to the canvas from inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut (watch highlights).
The 25-year-old and Professional Fighters League (PFL) has received much criticism for how she has been booked and the “favorable” matchups she has received thus far in her career.
American Top Team co-founder and Ditcheva’s head coach, Conan Silveira, has responded to the critics and doesn’t appreciate everyone tearing her down.
“From what I read in the media, there’s always something to be said. It doesn’t matter how much you do; there is always an expectation – You should be more, more and more, and then you’re never proven if you haven’t fought the person that everyone thinks you should fight. I definitely don’t believe that,” Silveira told MMAMania.com. I think people are full of blah, blah, blah. Some don’t understand what they are watching. Some do understand and just like to depreciate people. They have no idea what a fighter has to go through. But definitely, 100%, I believe then she’s on her way to becoming a champion. She is the future.”
Ditcheva ended up being the only fighter at the top of the standings to face a fighter coming off when she was coming off a win, which caused fans and reporters to question the matchmaking of PFL and accuse the British fighter of picking fights.
Silveira pushed back against those claims and said his fighter doesn’t pick her fights whatsoever.
“I’ve been dealing with [fighters being accused of picking fights] all my life in different promotions and with the different champions,” Silveira said. “There is always someone saying, ‘that fighter didn’t want to fight that fighter’ because they will have a bad day. When is it a good day? There’s no such thing as a good day for fighters. As for people saying ‘she doesn’t want to fight the other girls,’ she doesn’t care who she fights in the next round or after that. I really don’t believe she would ever say that, and she wouldn’t say that to anybody. ‘Oh, I don’t want to fight you.’ She can fight anybody and is on the level of Liz Carmouche and Taila Santos.”
“It’s not up to her who she fights. If it were up to her, I’ll be honest: She would ask all of the other girls to get in the cage, and she’d fight them one by one on the same night. I’m not lying. That is her desire. Of course, it’s not reality. She really doesn’t care who she’s going to fight. Just bring it. She’ll be ready because her main concern is about her, not about what the other people think and what she has to prove,” Silveira concluded.
Ditcheva faces Jenna Bishop in the semi-finals on Aug. 2 for a chance to fight for $1,000,000.
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