close
close

Mondor Festival

News with a Local Lens

    • While MMA fans name Dakota Ditcheva as the best striker in the world, Muay Thai fans counter with a woman who has won 150 fights against men.
    minsta

    While MMA fans name Dakota Ditcheva as the best striker in the world, Muay Thai fans counter with a woman who has won 150 fights against men.

    Pabio Posted on

    Dakota Ditcheva’s dominant performance and stunning body shot against former UFC title challenger Taila Santos on Friday helped maintain her perfect professional fight record and propel the undefeated starlets into the stratosphere.

    Already known for her fine Muay Thai, knockout ability, PFL Europe title and undefeated record in mixed martial arts, Ditcheva has taken a huge leap forward in the level of her opponents while making it look like it was easy. So it’s no surprise that fans are going crazy for her.

    There has never been a female MMA fighter who has delivered such merciless body shots to her opponents, or who has been so adept in the clinch with her knees and elbows.

    Never before has a 26-year-old with just 14 professional fights been tipped as the woman to beat Valentina Shevchenko, but that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

    Many MMA fans and experts have gone even further to declare that Ditcheva is the best striker in MMA, if not the world period.

    Women in MMA like Manon Fiorot and Zhang Weili may have something to say about this, but the group that has really taken issue with these statements is Muay Thai fans.

    Ditcheva herself hails from Muay Thai, but was only an IMFA (amateur) champion in the sport before moving to MMA.

    “The Art of 8 Limbs” fans were quick to point out that while “Dangerous” Dakota is amazing, there is a woman in the East whose skills blow the Brit out of the water.

    Phetjeeja Jaa Or.Meekun is a Nak Muay (Muay Thai fighter from Thailand) who won a Muay Thai World Council title and a few other belts before signing with ONE Championship in 2023.

    Phetjeeja took his already incredible record and won six straight fights in ONE, including the interim atomweight kickboxing title and the following unification fight, taking his professional record to 208-6-3. She is also 4-0 as a boxer with a few amateur medals to her credit.

    The Thai star has already beaten a legend like Anissa Meksen. She is only 22 years old, although this young age is quite normal for a Muay Thai champion, as Thai fighters often fight from the age of eight.

    However, the real distinction that makes fans of this striker-only sport declare Phetjeeja as the world’s best female striker in any sport is her 150 victories against men in a brutal sport like Muay Thai.

    Women’s Muay Thai is much less popular and underfunded. So when she was young, she had to fight men until 2013 when her fights started appearing on television. The rules then forced her to only fight other women, but most were larger than her to compensate for the lack of atomic weights.

    This will never happen because Ditcheva is significantly taller, but their skills are interesting to compare. However, Muay Thai fans are right here.

    Dakota has incredible MMA talent, but her striking would be hard-pressed to look as good against a fighter like Smilla Sundell, the ONE flyweight champion who is Phetjeeja’s equal.

    Pabio
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like