Dakota Ditcheva isn’t ducking Valentina Shevchenko. And she’s not blaming Dana White, contracts, or promotional walls either. In fact, her hesitation has nothing to do with business at all. Instead, it has everything to do with perception and how cruel the court of public opinion can be. Because no matter what happens, someone is walking away diminished in the eyes of fans. And that’s the real problem.

The question came up when Ditcheva joined Ariel Helwani in a recent interview, a clip of which was shared by Helwani himself on X. Helwani framed it as one of the most intriguing women’s fights imaginable and asked whether Ditcheva was surprised by how decisively Shevchenko handled Zhang Weili at UFC 322.

The PFL star responded with, “Yeah, because I did really rate Weili as well. But again, this is why we’ve got weight classes, right? Because it just, I think the size difference was just too big. Valentina is just, for me, she’s the GOAT. Like she can put her in front of anyone and the distance control, the way she fights, the strategy when she’s in there, just is above anybody else’s. Like she adapts so quick to someone’s style so feel like I should never really have kind of swayed a little bit.”

‘Bullet’s critics point to a lack of finishes; she hasn’t stopped an opponent since 2021, but her numbers still tell a different story. Control time, clean striking, defensive reads, winning rounds without panic, that’s not decline. That’s efficiency.

Helwani pushed further, asking about the criticism Shevchenko receives for being “boring” or too safe. Ditcheva didn’t fully disagree. “Maybe a little bit. Yeah,” she said. But she added context most fans skip, “She wants to go out on top, like has anyone really done what she’s done? She’s completed all the rubies on a belt plus more like she’s at the top, the age of her and the way she’s kind of fighting at the moment is just incredible anyway, but I suppose people want that like killer in them, don’t they, they don’t want people to lose it.”

Then came the part that reframed the entire conversation. When Helwani asked if she ever imagines fighting Shevchenko, Ditcheva admitted she does, but immediately explained why it feels like a no-win situation.

According to her, “Sometimes I do (think about it), yeah, I would love to have had that matchup, I really would. But you look at the other fights and people would be like, ‘oh Valentina was past it, she’s been in it for years.’ And then if I was to lose they’d be like, ‘oh she wasn’t ready, there was too much hype. I feel like people want the fight, but there would be so many excuses on both sides to who would end up winning. It’s like, whatever.”

That’s the crux. Win, and the legend was washed. Lose, and the prospect was exposed. Stylistically, it’s fascinating. Narratively, it’s poisoned. And Dakota Ditcheva knows that legacy fights don’t always reward the courage it takes to accept them. So, while fans assumed the obstacle was Dana White or the UFC–PFL divide, Ditcheva quietly flipped that assumption on its head. But what about a ‘superfight’ with another legend of women’s MMA?

Dakota Ditcheva responds to Cris Cyborg’s calls for a retirement clash

If the Valentina Shevchenko conversation is about legacy optics, the Cris Cyborg discussion is about logistics and leverage. And once again, Dakota Ditcheva isn’t ducking smoke. She’s questioning whether the math actually works. After Cyborg called her out following a win at PFL Lyon, the reaction was predictable. Fans saw legend versus rising star and immediately jumped to the finish line. But Ditcheva slowed it down and explained why this one isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Ditcheva made it clear the issue wasn’t respect, “I was honored to be called out, but I just feel like it didn’t make very much sense, if Cyborg could make 135 and she had a bit more time — she’s saying it’s her last fight — I don’t have the time to put that much weight on because I’m not a big 125er. If she was even close to 135 and you paid me some big money, hell yeah, I’d get in there — but it just didn’t make sense.”

Ditcheva also rejected the idea that a fight with Cyborg would be a gift, arguing that she would actually be the one bringing the value. She made it clear that the matchup works because of her momentum and marketability, not as a favor from a legend, and suggested Cyborg needs the fight just as much, if not more, than she does.

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That’s not arrogance. It’s awareness. Ditcheva is unbeaten, trending upward, and part of the PFL’s future. Cyborg, 40, is chasing one last moment. Even Cyborg acknowledged the challenge, claiming in a social media post that she can now make 135 because her body carries “much less muscle” than during her UFC days and promising she “won’t miss weight for my retirement fight.”

Against Valentina Shevchenko, the narrative eats whoever loses. Against Cris Cyborg, the logistics, weight, and timing muddy what should be a clean legacy moment. Different legends, same underlying problem. Legacy fights sound romantic from the outside. Inside the sport, they’re often traps. Ditcheva sees that clearly. And whether fans like it or not, that kind of self-awareness might be the most dangerous quality she has moving forward.