It’s such a rarity in martial arts for someone so young to transcend the boundaries of sport. For Dakota Ditcheva, she has emphatically broken her way into the mainstream.
17 year-old Ditcheva has featured on the BBC, a feat fitting of her rising star power in Muay Thai. “The art of eight limbs” was popularised in Thailand, but has a growing presence in the western world.
In a sport which is mainly dominated by men, Dakota has managed to polarise crowds around the UK with her unique style. She may come across unassuming but inside the ring Dakota showcases clinical ability.
With her growing popularity giving Thai Boxing more exposure, Ditcheva explains how her ‘girly’ appearance is an important tool for attracting mainstream interest.
She said: “I can’t really say why people talk about me but I think in the public eye I’m just a little bit different to everyone else. In the Thai Boxing game, the fighters don’t look very girly or anything like that, whereas I do.
“I look girly but when I get in the ring I’m a totally different person. That’s one thing they’re excited to see, the complete change when I get in the ring.
“I become this really aggressive person [in the ring] and when I’m in there it’s like tunnel vision, I only see what’s in front of me and that’s it. Sometimes I don’t hear what my corner is saying to me because I’m so focused on the person in front of me, I think I just switch off and go into fight mode. When I’m outside of the ring, I’m totally different.”
With a lack of female athletes in Muay Thai, Ditcheva cited the sport’s male dominated reputation as a possible deterrent.
“Maybe because people discount it as a male dominated sport. Maybe seeing something like me, pushing themselves up there, a bit of a role model for the females, it’s definitely brought more women into the sport.”
The teenage sensation from Sale first started to train Muay Thai when she was aged four. For one reason or another; growing up and playing other sports, Ditcheva took a long break from combat. However at the age of 13 she once again laced up her gloves and began to take her training serious.
“To be honest, I’m only 17 now but when I started at 13, I had a whole different attitude to the sport really. When I was four, I couldn’t remember much, I just wondered why I came back to it, there must be something there for me to come back to it after all this time.
“My mum tried to get me to do dancing,” laughed Ditcheva, “but I completely changed and came back to this. So, it is weird but I think it’s just what’s in the blood really.”
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, with Mother Lisa Howarth a pioneer of Muay Thai. She won many world championships and it is something which Dakota looks to emulate whilst also creating her own path of success.
“In my mind I put a lot of pressure on myself to be as good as my mum and carry on what she achieved in her career. I want to keep that going, not just for me but for her as well. I don’t have to, I don’t get any pressure from anyone else but admittedly I’m quite hard on myself.
“I push myself quite hard but as well I want to make my own path really, I don’t just want to be known for what my mum achieved, I want to be known for what I achieved as well.”
It is far from an ordinary teenage life for Ditcheva, who often sacrifices social time to put extra hours in the gym. Although, the young star admitted that with her group of understanding friends, she is still able to have the same experiences as any other girl.
“People ask, do you still go out with your friends? For them, it’s like ‘you train every day, you don’t get any time to spend with your friends’, for me, if I want to be at the top, this is what I have to do.
“I still go out with my friends all the time, train in the morning, I’ve got the full day then, until I train at night again. It’s just priorities really, putting your training first and your friends after. I’m lucky enough to have friends to support me in that way. But as well in the sport, you meet so many different friends, so many new people, so many different countries, it’s amazing the amount of people you meet so I don’t really feel like I’m missing out on anything.”
Training out of Northern Spirit in Sale, she has already had the opportunity to fight around the world. Winning three consecutive world championships, travelling to Turkey, Malaysia and Thailand where she secured gold.
“Last year I went over to Thailand and fought three times,” explained Dakota. “The first one was against China, I stopped her. Then I fought [and beat] Belarus then after that I got my first knockout by head kick against a Thai girl.
To fight and win over in Thailand; the pinnacle of the sport, is definitive of Ditcheva’s flourishing ability. But even she admitted that it’s never an easy task fighting against a well drilled Thai.
“I had been over to Thailand before as a training holiday and stopped a girl there but they are all different, no matter how many Thai people you fight, you’re still nervous.”
In 2015, Dakota won the Trinity Mirror, Pride of Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year Award. To top it off, Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan presented it to her. The instrumental work which Dakota has done to help Muay Thai gain recognition is certainly deserving of appreciation.
Despite this, the magnitude has seemingly yet to sink in: “I don’t know whether it’s completely sunk in yet. People always say do you understand what you’ve won? And I’m obviously really proud of myself at a really young age to be able to do that but not just for me. Our sport isn’t as well recognised as boxing or MMA, so for us to get that, not just for me, it is a massive thing and that’s what I’m beginning to understand now.”
Dakota’s next challenge comes on May 14 in Bolton, when she faces experienced 26 year-old Emma Bragg on the Tanko Main Event. The ISKA -50kg British Championship is on the line, another potential accomplishment to add to Ditcheva’s rapidly growing CV.
However, with Thai Boxing still searching for its place in the mainstream, the money on offer to fighters remains limited. Ditcheva admitted that because of this, a transition over to mixed martial arts could definitely be on the cards.
“That is obviously one thing, the other thing is the money, there isn’t a lot of money involved in the sport to push it anywhere, all these boxing they’ve got a lot of money, the UFC have got the most money for MMA so, we need something like that to get the sport going. Once it gets going I think it will do well, but without that we’re not really getting anywhere without it.”
Unlike Muay Thai, MMA has shown rapid growth over the past decade. Now one of the biggest combat sports in the world, fighters like Conor McGregor have propelled the sport into the public eye.
With plenty of time to learn the ground game; known as jiu-jitsu, a proposed jump to MMA could be fruitful for Ditcheva, who looks to replicate the success of her role model, former UFC champion Ronda Rousey.
“it’s been talked about before, I’m just getting a couple of [Muay Thai] fights out of the way this year then I’m just going to try it out, see if I take to it.
“When you see role models, it’s such a big part of it. I look up to Ronda and when I watch her I think ‘oh my god I could do that’, It looks hard I don’t think I’d be good at it at the start but obviously I think to myself if I push myself I could do that.
Just like her hero, Ditcheva is taking the world by storm in her own regard. There has yet to be a fighter from the United Kingdom – male or female – to win a major UFC championship. With the way things are heading, there is great confidence that one day, Ditcheva can be the one to finally break the trend.
Weighing -50kg (110lbs), Dakota would have to pack on some mass, with the UFC’s female divisions ranging from 135-115lbs. If history is anything to go by, Thai fighters have found relevant success in the UFC. More specifically, six-time world Muay Thai champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk, the current UFC Strawweight title holder.
Her future, whether it be in Muay Thai or even MMA, shines unbelievably bright as Ditcheva continues to eclipse the barriers of sport.
