$1 million winning Dakota Ditcheva has eclipsed Ronda Rousey's skillset, says UFC veteran: "She could beat anybody"

Ronda Rousey is always compared to rising, undefeated women's MMA phenoms. Rather, they are compared to her, and now it is Dakota Ditcheva's turn. UFC legend Dan Hardy recently compared the two women, opting to shower Ditcheva with a tremendous amount of praise.

In an interview with Bloody Elbow, Hardy described Rousey as a pioneer who excelled in one face of MMA, differentiating her from Ditcheva, who the Englishman believes is more well-rounded.

"Ronda was a pioneer in martial arts, women's martial arts in particular, but the reason why she was so effective is because she was particularly overwhelming in one range, right? Like, she came in, she grabbed a hold of somebody, threw them to the floor, and wrenched their arm off. Whereas Dakota, over the last two years, has also shown that she's a fully well-rounded MMA fighter."

Ditcheva, while a striking specialist, has shown herself to be highly competent in defensive wrestling and grappling, even against elite-level opposition.

"I think that's another thing that gives people a lot of confidence that she could compete with anyone in the world. She can grapple and stay safe if she hits the floor with a world-class jiu-jitsu player. And her takedown defense coupled with those Muay Thai knees could put anybody away. And she's also got the frame that's perfect for this weight class. I could make the argument right now that she could beat anybody in this weight class on the planet."

Check out Dan Hardy comparing Dakota Ditcheva to Ronda Rousey (6:19):

Ditcheva's public profile has risen following her title-winning triumph in the 2024 PFL Women's Flyweight Tournament, where she demolished former UFC women's flyweight title chhallenger Taila Santos within two rounds. The Brazilian is noted for giving Valentina Shevchenko, an all-time great, a particularly difficult fight.

However, Ditcheva ran completely through her, with a possible UFC run in the near-future becoming a massive point of interest.

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Ronda Rousey eventually rounded out her skill-set

While Ronda Rousey never became a high-level striker, she did improve her standup to the point of becoming competent and effective, so long as she remained committed to mixing it up with her Olympic-level judo skills. She began scoring TKOs and knockouts, in addition to her patented armbar wins.

Check out Ronda Rousey TKO'ing Sara McMann:

Unfortunately, Rousey eventually came to believe that her striking was world-class, and either the inability or unwillingness to keep bridging it with her judo led to devastating losses to both Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.