MMA champion Dakota Ditcheva hopes move to Dubai can spur global success

A self-confessed sun lover, Dakota Ditcheva didn’t exactly get the welcome she expected on her move to Dubai last month.

“It was a little bit of a shock,” the English mixed martial artist says of the inclement conditions that greeted her. “Well, I say a bit of a shock, but I'm from Manchester, so I’m used to the rain.

“Although, I didn't think I'd ever come here and see it. But it was a good experience anyway … for one day. That was enough.”

Fortunately, Ditcheva had already sampled Dubai before making the major decision to relocate there. She came out for the first time in January, following a few friends who have trodden the path before her, and “fell in love straight away”.

“Now I don't want to leave,” Ditcheva tells The National, sitting in a hotel coffee shop in Dubai Marina. “We've managed to sort out my visa, which is amazing; I feel very honoured to get the visa I did.

“So, yeah, everything's all good. Get to live in the sun and do some good training over here and meet a lot of new people. The opportunity is to just better yourself all around.”

Dubai, though, is not only for the immediate future.

“One of the main things for me is that I love fighting, but I'm not going to be able to fight for ever and I want to have that place where I can settle in the future,” Ditcheva says.

“Maybe open my own gym or plans for business and even a family – and I've got to bring a family up here. So different factors have come together for this.

“Just training outdoors is a big thing for me. I feel like the happier you are in the morning with the sunshine, the easier it is to get on with your training. Sometimes I feel a little bit spoiled, but why not?”

It helps that Ditcheva has recently joined Paradigm Sports, the