Dakota Ditcheva was forced to withdraw from her fight against Denise Kielholtz at PFL: Road to Dubai due to injury. The event is scheduled to take place at the Coca-Cola Arena on February 7.
The flyweight bout was expected to see unbeaten Ditcheva (15-0) kick off 2026 after suffering a broken hand in her previous bout in July against Sumiko Inaba. The 27-year-old British mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai fighter was set to face 36-year-old Dutch former Bellator Kickboxing champion Kielholtz (8-5), who was making her return to action.
In a social media post, Ditcheva wrote that she is “truly heartbroken” and revealed she “cried two days straight” after injuring herself, then again when the withdrawal was officially announced. She added that she had been looking forward to the fight as an early start to 2026, especially after only fighting once last year.
“Nothing makes me happier than being in that cage,” Ditcheva said. “However, that being said, I know it just WASN’T MEANT TO BE.”
She also expressed gratitude for her brothers, who supported her throughout training and the trip to Dubai, calling it “a holiday I will remember for a lifetime,” concluding with, “I will be back before you know it.”
PFL also shared an updated fight card on social media, noting, “Dakota Ditcheva will not be fighting; she is out with an injury,” but did not reveal the nature of the injury.
In the main event, PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (20-0-0, 1 NC) defends his title against Alfie Davis (20-5-1). The co-main event features Ramazan Kuramagomedov (13-0) facing Shamil Musaev (20-0-1) for the inaugural PFL welterweight title.
The current PFL Dubai lineup is as follows:
- Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alfie Davis – Nurmagomedov’s PFL lightweight title
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Shamil Musaev – inaugural PFL welterweight title
- Magomed Umalatov vs. Abdoul Abdouraguimov
- Pouya Rahmani vs. Karl Williams
- Amru Magomedov vs. Kolton Englund
- Jesus Pinedo vs. Salamat Isbulaev
- Amin Ayoub vs. Makkasharip Zaynukov
- Luke Trainer vs. Rob Wilkinson