Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

MMA world champion Dakota Ditcheva celebrates Christmas in Bulgaria

Photo: Facebook/DakotaDitcheva

MMA star Dakota Ditcheva spent the Christmas holidays in Bulgaria. The 26-year-old athlete wished her Facebook followers a Merry Christmas from the snow-covered resort of Borovets, as well as from Samokov, where she enjoyed a hearty Christmas meal of typical Bulgarian dishes with her relatives.

2024 was a very successful year for Dakota, who became flyweight world champion of the elite Professional Fighters League after knocking out Brazilian Taila Santos in the second round. This earned her the top prize of one million US dollars for the 2024 season. Dakota, who was born in England but is of Bulgarian descent, is currently the only undefeated mixed martial arts superstar. She is the daughter of former karate, Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Lisa Howarth and Samokov-born Bulgarian Ivo Dichev, who is also involved in martial arts, writes gong.bg. 

As a result, the talented and charming Dakota always comes to her fights with both the Bulgarian and British flags. "My father is Bulgarian. I always wanted all my fans to know that. I have two nationalities. I'm half English. Half Bulgarian. I'm proud of that," Dicheva told The Sports Jungle YouTube channel recently.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Minister of Sport, Mayor of Sofia award the best young athletes for 2024

Bulgaria's best young athletes for 2024 will be awarded today at a ceremony organised by the Viasport.bg website and Free Media Group Ltd. The ceremony will be attended by caretaker Minister of Youth and Sports Georgi Glushkov and Sofia Mayor Vassil..

published on 1/5/25 7:25 AM

TENNIS: Injury ends Grigor Dimitrov's Brisbane semi-final run

Grigor Dimitrov's path to defending his Brisbane title seemed to clear after top seed Novak Djokovic withdrew . However, the Bulgarian's hopes were dashed in the semi-finals, as he retired with an injury while trailing 4-6, 4-4 against Czech Jiri..

published on 1/4/25 11:38 AM

TENNIS: Grigor Dimitrov reaches Brisbane semi-finals

Defending his title in Brisbane, Grigor Dimitrov bested Australian Jordan Thompson 6-1, 2-1, with Thompson retiring due to injury.  It was the Bulgarian's sixth appearance in the semi-finals of the ATP 250 series in the Australian city.  Dimitrov's..

published on 1/3/25 11:44 AM