Dakota Ditcheva says she has “cried non-stop” after breaking both of her hands during her unanimous decision victory over Denise Kielholtz at PFL New York earlier this month.

The unbeaten British flyweight returned to competition after more than a year away to outclass Kielholtz and extend her professional record to 16-0. Ditcheva, 28, had not fought since July 2025 after breaking her left hand before suffering a fracture to her other hand five months later.

“I broke my hands in the fight. I could feel it from the second I started the second round,” said Ditcheva, according to her YouTube channel and the BBC. “I didn’t tell my corner. I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t show it this time, and I didn’t actually tell anybody until I got out of the cage.”

Ditcheva said one of the injuries was related to a previous break on which she opted not to have surgery last year, while the other was a smaller fracture. “The good thing is I have no new breaks. It’s just the hand that wasn’t operated on that I broke at the end of last year,” said Ditcheva. “I was told that if I didn’t go ahead with surgery at that time, there was a possibility it could break again. I took the risk in not doing the surgery because I was hoping it would hold strong, and it didn’t.”

Ditcheva is back in splints and awaiting a decision from her surgeon on the next stage of her recovery, with another spell on the sidelines now expected. “I have honestly cried non-stop the last week,” she said. “I will be back. This is not going to take me out. My career is not done. Although it felt like that once again, I will be back. I’m hopefully going to be back quicker than I was last time.”

The latest setback comes after Ditcheva established herself as one of the PFL’s leading fighters by winning its flyweight tournament in 2024, becoming the first British woman to claim a major MMA world championship and collecting a $1 million prize.