Dakota Ditcheva admits she’s still fighting fear following serious hand injury

Unbeaten British fighter Dakota Ditcheva will make her return to competition on July 31 at UBS Arena on Long Island, facing former Bellator kickboxing champion Denise Kielholtz in a PFL matchup. Ditcheva has been sidelined since suffering a broken hand against Sumiko Inaba in 2025, an absence that stretched beyond a year.

While Ditcheva has made a complete physical recovery from the injury, which required reconstructive surgery, she continues to grapple with the psychological aftermath of her time away. The mental challenge of trusting her repaired hand again has proven more difficult than the rehabilitation itself. "You have to try and forget about it," Ditcheva explained. "I'm doing everything I was doing before it was broken, so for now, it's just the mind. I don't have any evidence to suggest the hand isn't as strong as it was before; I'm hitting just as hard as I was before."

Ditcheva acknowledged that she still experiences nervousness before training sessions, though she has reframed these feelings as motivation. "When I get ready for training in the morning, I'm nervous," she said. "But that's what makes me go and those feelings are what I live for every day."

The bout is part of PFL's Summer Series, with preliminary action starting at 4 p.m. EST on the ESPN App and the main card airing at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN. Ditcheva's return marks a significant moment for the undefeated fighter as she works to rebuild confidence and prove that her hand—and her career—have emerged from injury intact.