MMA

Dakota Ditcheva admits she’s still fighting fear following serious hand injury

Published

3 months ago

July 31, 2026

Dakota Ditcheva admits she’s still fighting fear following serious hand injury

Dakota
Ditcheva is trying to forget about her hand injury as she
prepares to return to action in the
Professional Fighters League.

The unbeaten British standout meets former Bellator
kickboxing champion Denise
Kielholtz on July 31 at UBS Arena on Long Island, New York,
marking her return after suffering a broken hand against Sumiko
Inaba in 2025, an injury that sidelined her for more than a
year.

Dakota Ditcheva discusses confidence struggles before PFL fight
with Denise Kielholtz

Despite a 100% physical recovery from her injury, Ditcheva still
struggles with the mental aspect of returning to competition. She
recently admitted that the biggest hurdle has been regaining
complete confidence in her repaired hand, especially having
undergone reconstructive surgery.

â€œYou have to try and forget about it,â€ Ditcheva said about her
recovery after the surgery. â€œI'm doing everything I was doing
before it was broken, so for now, it's just the mind. I don't have
any evidence to suggest the hand isn't as strong as it was before;
I'm hitting just as hard as I was before.â€

Ditcheva also claimed that she occasionally feels â€œnervousâ€ before
training sessions.

â€œWhen I get ready for training in the morning, I'm nervous,â€ the
PFL star added. â€œBut that's what makes me go and those feeling are
what I live for every day.â€

The Summer of PFL rolls on! âž¡ï¸

The
#PFLSummerSeries continues straight into New York with the
return of undefeated Dakota
Ditcheva this Friday, July 31st against Denise
Kielholtz #PFLNY
| Friday, July 31st | ðŸ“ºPrelims 4PM EST on the ESPN App | Main Card
7PM EST on ESPN pic.twitter.com/wsHRozzHYK

â€” PFL (@PFLMMA)
July 26, 2026

MMA

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses

Published

6 hours ago

October 19, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses

Joaquin
Buckley remains undeterred after his third consecutive defeat
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Buckley faced Mike Malott in the Canadian's home country at

UFC Edmonton on Saturday. Malott landed a knee in the second
round and followed with a punch before the referee stopped the
bout. Despite the setback, â€œNew Mansaâ€ remains optimistic about his
future.

Joaquin Buckley plans to document his rebuild after Mike
Malott’s UFC Edmonton knockout

Buckley won six straight fights before his current skid. He now
plans to livestream his efforts to rebuild, inviting fans to follow
the process.

â€œRight now, we rebuilding and I want y'all to see the process, not
just the results,â€ Buckley wrote in the caption of his postfight
Instagram post. â€œThe highs, the lows, and everything it takes to
become who God called me to be.â€

In the accompanying video, Buckley said he wants to share his
training and introduce fans to his team.

â€œI realize that I want to document everything,â€ Buckley said. â€œI
want to document the process, I want to document the work, I want
to document the team. This is really just starting back over from
scratch; creating a new foundation and making something happenâ€¦ I'm
not going to stop; I'm going to keep working. And I'll make sure
that everybody remembers that name.â€

MMA

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses

Published

6 hours ago

October 19, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Joaquin
Buckley remains undeterred after his third consecutive defeat
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Buckley faced Mike Malott in the Canadian's home country at

Joaquin Buckley plans to document his rebuild after Mike
Malott’s UFC Edmonton knockout

Buckley won six straight fights before his current skid. He now
plans to livestream his efforts to rebuild, inviting fans to follow
the process.

In the accompanying video, Buckley said he wants to share his
training and introduce fans to his team.

MMA

Video: ‘UFC 333 Countdown’ full episode

Published

6 hours ago

October 19, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Alexander Volkanovski faces an undefeated challenger, and Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili settle their epic trilogy at UFC 333 this Saturday.

In the main event, Volkanovski puts his featherweight title on the line once again as he takes on Movsar Evloev, who has had his hand raised in all 10 of his UFC appearances and holds wins over Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen, and Diego Lopes. At 38, Volkanovski is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but can he muster up another classic performance to deny the hungry Evloev?

The stakes are just as high in the co-main event, which sees Yan and Dvalishvili face off for a third time with both men owning a definitive victory in their series. Dvalishvili defeated Yan in a three-round bout in 2023, handing Yan a third straight loss and seemingly removing him from the title picture for good; however, Yan bounced back and ended Dvalishvili's bantamweight championship run this past December with a virtuoso five-round performance. Now, the battle again, with a belt and possibly all-time great status on the line.

Check out the full episode of â€˜UFC 333 Countdown' above.