Dakota Dycheba wasn’t at all concerned by the increased stakes in the Professional Fighters League playoffs. In fact, she seemed amused by it.
The American Top Team rising star kept her professional record intact, outsmarting Jenna Bishop with a striking victory in the first round of the PFL7 women’s flyweight semifinals on Friday at Nashville City Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Dicheva (13-0, 8-0 PFL) ended the bout 3:54 into the first round with a precision knee strike from the clinch, a front kick to the body and a right cross.
Bishop (7-2, 1-2 PFL) earned her the win. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt landed a high-amplitude takedown within the first 100 seconds and briefly advanced to half guard, but missed the opportunity. Ditcheva created a base, got to her feet, created the space she needed, and Bishop landed a knee and it was all good. Ditcheva pulled the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu representative to her feet, smashed a front kick to the stomach and finished with a right hand.
The unbeaten Ditcheva will advance to the $1 million women’s flyweight championship match against Tayla Santos, who defeated current Bellator MMA titleholder Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision in the other semifinal. Santos (22-3, 3-0 PFL) won all three bouts by 29-28 margins.
Carmouche (22-8, 2-1 PFL) did her best to overcome her failed weight cut, using dirty clinches, applying consistent pressure and scoring multiple takedowns. Santos stayed focused, earning points with opportunistic grappling (she got behind the Louisiana and threatened a rear-naked choke in the first round) and clean punch combinations. The Brazilian twice swatted Carmouche’s head off with sharp one-twos in the middle rounds. “Girl Lila” responded aggressively, scoring two more takedowns against Santos in the final five minutes, but the finish she needed was nowhere near.
The loss was Carmouche’s first since Aug. 10, 2019 and ended a career-best nine-fight winning streak.
Meanwhile, two-time World Sambo gold medalist Denis Goltzov defeated Extreme Couture’s Tim Johnson with punches in the first round of the heavyweight semifinals. The bout fell short for Johnson (18-10, 1-1 PFL), who succumbed to strikes 2 minutes, 26 seconds into the first round.
Goltsov (35-8, 13-3 PFL) had the American down roughly two minutes into the bout, working ground-and-pound and then climbing into full mount. From there, the punches continued, preventing Johnson from trying to move out of danger. Goltsov eventually settled on Johnson’s back in a turtle position, unleashing a flurry of uncountered punches and hammerfists until the job was done.
The 34-year-old Goltsov will advance to the $1 million heavyweight championship against Russian Oleg Popov, who defeated Linton Vassell by unanimous decision in the other semifinal. Popov (19-1, 3-0 PFL), won by a landslide 30-27 score over the three cageside judges.
Vassell (24-10, 1-2 PFL) barely got on the mount in terms of meaningful resistance. The relentless Popov executed multiple takedowns in all three rounds and backed it up with ground-and-pound, steadily wearing down the Kill Cliff Fight Club export. The 41-year-old Vassell was clearly worn down, and he was virtually shut out in the second and third rounds. Popov repeatedly dragged Vassell to the canvas, then returned him to the mat time and time again, toying with him. The outcome was never in doubt.
Popov is currently on an incredible 17-fight winning streak.
In other bouts, Sergey Birostenyi (13-3, 2-0 PFL) defeated Tyrell Fortune (14-3, 1-1 PFL) with a heel hook 2:00 into the first round of their heavyweight bout. Alexei Pergunde (5-0, 5-0 PFL) defeated Daniel Borre (4-3, 0-1 PFL) by unanimous decision in a three-round featherweight bout, receiving an overall score of 30-27. Cody Law (9-2, 1-0 FPL) defeated Zachary Hicks (9-6, 0-2 PFL) with a rear-naked choke 3:15 into the first round of their featherweight bout. Dedrek Sanders (9-4, 1-0 PFL) knocked out Sergio Coccio (19-10-1, 1-1 PFL) with punches 2:34 into the first round of their 163-pound catchweight bout. Anthony Ivey (15-7, 2-0 PFL) defeated Jaleel Willis (16-7, 0-1 PFL) by rear-naked choke 4:49 into the second round of their 173-pound catchweight bout. Kevin Pees (6-0, 1-0 PFL) defeated Nicholas Mech (7-2, 1-1 PFL) by unanimous decision in a three-round welterweight pairing, earning scores of 29-28 from all three cageside judges.
