The PFL has been on the market, adding two names familiar from their time in the UFC to a division spearheaded by Dakota Ditcheva.
2024 saw the Professional Fighters League introduce a women’s 125-pound weight class, with the likes of Ditcheva, Liz Carmouche, and Taila Santos battling it out in the inaugural women’s flyweight season.
Ditcheva destroyed Santos in the final to prove the hype behind her name is more than warranted. The undefeated knockout artist has made a sizable splash in MMA, and with her stardom growing beyond the PFL’s tournament, talk of Ditcheva joining the UFC and challenging Valentina Shevchenko down the line picked up.
That got shut down this past summer, though, when ‘Dangerous’ inked a new deal with the PFL. Many reacted with surprise, pointing out an apparent lack of opponent options for the British fighter.
The PFL now looks to have gone some way toward addressing that by adding two notable ex-UFC contenders to the flyweight roster.
Dakota Ditcheva has competition as PFL signs Viviane Araujo and Ariane Lipski da Silva
The PFL has simplified things this year, with the promotion abandoning a previous system that was widely branded confusing for a more traditional format with divisional titles.
Ditcheva appears to be a front-runner to challenge for the inaugural belt after winning PFL Europe and PFL Global championships in the past two years. And when it comes to her opponent, two newcomers to the organization may well stake their claim.
Viviane Araujo and Ariane Lipski da Silva mark the latest fighters to cross over from the UFC to the PFL. The two Brazilians both exited MMA’s leading promotion this year and have now found a home in the SmartCage.
Araujo (13-7) was a longtime member of the flyweight top 10 in the UFC and defeated the likes of Karine Silva, Jennifer Maia, and Roxanne Modafferi during her six-year stint in the Octagon.
Da Silva (17-11), meanwhile, is a former KSW champion whose three-fight losing skid stalled her hopes of surging to the top in the UFC. Before her current difficult run, ‘Queen of Violence’ lived up to her nickname by submitting Casey O’Neill with an armbar in late 2023.
The 31-year-old is also responsible for one of the most brutal submissions in UFC history, when she tapped out Luana Carolina with a horrifying kneebar five years ago.
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Usman Nurmagomedov vs Paul Hughes 2 tops the PFL’s next major event
Confirmation of the PFL’s latest signings comes just a few days out from the promotion’s upcoming event in Dubai.
After Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes’ classic title fight this past January, the pair will run it back nearly nine months later in competition for the PFL lightweight title.
Their rematch is set to headline Friday’s PFL Champions Series 3 card at Coca-Cola Arena, where the likes of Corey Anderson, Sergio Pettis, and Caolan Loughran will also be in action.