Dakota Ditcheva Stays Perfect, Leads 4 Championship Winners at PFL Europe Finals

Dakota
Ditcheva’s offensive arsenal was simply too much for Valentina
Scatizzi to handle.

The British muay thai stylist completed an impressive run through
the
Professional Fighters League European season, as she defeated
her opponent via technical knockout to claim the women’s flyweight
crown and the accompanying $100,000 payout at the
2023 PFL Europe Finals. With Scatizzi’s left eye completely
swollen shut after five minutes, the cageside doctor waved off the
contest before the start of Round 2. Ditcheva (10-5, 5-0 PFL) has
finished all but one of her pro triumphs inside the distance.

Ditcheva was in peak form for as long as the fight lasted. While
she battered Scatizzi (2-2, 1-1 PFL) with straight punches and
kicks at range, the Manchester Top Team representative was even
better in the clinch, where she manhandled her Italian foe and
attacked with powerful knees in close quarters. Although Scatizzi
did her best to keep moving forward, she had no answers for
Ditcheva’s multi-faceted attack.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan native Khurshed
Kakhorov captured the bantamweight crown with a knockout
victory against SBG Ireland member Frans
Mlambo. Kakhorov put his opponent away at the 2:32 mark of
Round 2 to secure his fourth consecutive professional triumph.
Mlambo sees a seven-fight winning streak snapped in defeat.

Mlambo (15-6, 2-1 PFL) did well early, as he controlled the action
with rangy punching combinations and a toolbox of kicks. When
Kakhorov was able to land a takedown, “The Black Mamba” scrambled
to his feet and continued to his impose his will in exchanges. The
bout took an abrupt turn in the second period, however, when
Kakhorov
dropped Mlambo with a massive counter right hook. “Killer” then
rendered his foe unconscious with a pair of heavy ground shots to
clinch the victory.

Elsewhere, Jakub
Kaszuba survived some early adversity to rally for a
second-round technical knockout victory against John
Mitchell in a lightweight championship bout. The Polish
standout ended the contest at the 3:07 mark of the period with a

barrage of ground-and-pound.

Mitchell (8-2, 2-1 PFL) appeared to be on the verge of a finish
when he rocked his foe with a front kick to the chin and then
swarmed with punches. The situation was so dire that referee
Rich
Mitchell nearly stepped in to halt the contest, but he wisely
elected to let the combatants continue. Kaszuba (11-0, 3-0 PFL)
kept his head and imposed his will in the second stanza. After
punching his way into the clinch, Kaszuba hurt Mitchell with knees
in close quarters, sending his adversary to the canvas. From there,
“Kuba” kept the pressure on with punches until Mitchell could no
longer defend himself from the assault.

Finally, Jakob Nedoh
flashed his considerable power to hand Simeon
Powell his first career defeat, claiming the PFL Europe light
heavyweight crown in the process. The 27-year-old Slovenian brought
the show to a close at the 1:16 mark of Round 2 for his eighth
consecutive victory inside the distance.

Powell (9-1, 4-1 PFL) did well controlling the range in the opening
stanza, as he attacked with leg kicks and straight punches while
repeatedly separating from his opponent’s clinch. Nedoh (8-1, 3-0
PFL) found his opening in the second frame, when he buckled Powell
with a right hand and dropped him with an ensuing left hook. “The
Gorilla” followed his man to the canvas, where he landed three more
punches and then returned to this feet, thinking the fight was
over. With no stoppage indicated by referee Derek Hickey, Nedoh

dove back in to seal his victory with one final elbow strike on his
reeling foe.

In other action: SBG Ireland representative Nathan
Kelly (9-2, 3-0 PFL) defeated Dimitry
Solimeis (6-4, 0-1 PFL) via
rear-naked choke at the 4:47 mark of Round 1 at
featherweight;SBG Ireland product Dylan Tuke
(7-4, 2-1 PFL) submitted Yazid
Chouchane (10-4, 1-1 PFL) with a
rear-naked choke 2:36 into the second round of a
lightweight contest; Cage Warriors veteran Weslley
Maia (9-6, 1-0 PFL) edged Lewis
McGrillen-Evans (7-1, 2-1 PFL) via unanimous decision (29-28,
29-28, 29-28) at bantamweight; UFC and Bellator veteran Brett Johns
(20-3, 1-0 PFL) locked in a triangle and battered David-Tonatiuh
Crol (11-8, 0-1 PFL) with punches to earn a
stoppage 3:09 into Round 3 of their featherweight
scrap; UFC veteran Tom Breese
(18-4, 1-0 PFL) submitted Cleiton
Pereira da Silva (16-3, 0-1 PFL) with a
rear-naked choke 3:30 into the opening stanza of their
light heavyweight clash; Bondo
Kikadze (8-2-1, 1-0 PFL) relied on takedowns and positional
control to cruise to a unanimous verdict (29-26, 29-27, 29-27)
against Bellator veteran Dominique
Wooding (9-5, 0-1 PFL) at bantamweight; Connor
Hughes (8-1, 1-1 PFL) stopped Sebastian
Santana Guedes (8-7-1, 1 NC, 0-2 PFL) with a
series of body punches on the canvas at the end of
Round 2 in a lightweight scrap; and in an amateur flyweight bout,
Nate
Kelly tapped out Callum
Seaton with an
anaconda choke 51 seconds into Round 2.