‘Not an Insult’: Dakota Ditcheva Reacts to Taila Santos’ ‘Barbie’ Trash Talk

Dakota Ditcheva has questioned Taila Santos for previously calling her ‘Barbie’ as the trash talk continues to ramp up between them.

Dakota Ditcheva

Last week, Dakota Ditcheva booked her place in the finals of the 2024 PFL Flyweight Tournament. She did so with an emphatic victory over Jena Bishop, and as a result of the win, she set up a showdown with former UFC star Taila Santos.

For whatever reason, these two have had quite a feud as of late. Santos lashed out recently and suggested that Dakota Ditcheva was given a much easier route to the finals than she was.

As it turns out, though, it appears as if this rivalry goes even deeper than that, as Dakota Ditcheva revealed during her post-fight press conference appearance.

Ditcheva questions Santos

“When I won the European title, she commented on a post saying ‘I want Barbie’s belt’. I was like, for a start you’re from Brazil so you can’t even fight for it anyway, and then two, calling me Barbie is not an insult. That’s what I like to show about my fighting and the fact that I have a different side to me. So, yeah. Whatever [laughs].”

The great thing about mixed martial arts is that we’ll get to see these two settle their differences sooner rather than later. It’s a classic case of youth vs experience, too, with undefeated 13-0 Ditcheva stepping up to test the waters against 22-3 Santos.

In the aforementioned interview, Ditcheva also brushed off the idea that Taila is a more well-rounded fighter than her. In truth, some have found it quite surprising to hear the Brazilian engage in trash talk like this, especially considering how humble she seemed to be both before and after her showdown with Valentina Shevchenko.

Regardless of who you side with here, this one promises to be pretty entertaining.