Reigning PFL Women’s Flyweight World Champion Dakota Ditcheva returns to the cage after a year on the sidelines when she meets Dutch striker Denise Kielholtz in the co-main event of PFL New York: Nurmagomedov vs Colgan on Friday, July 31, 2026 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
The bout is the rescheduled version of the Dubai booking that was called off in February when Ditcheva was forced out with a training-camp injury.
Here is everything you need to know: how to watch PFL New York in the UK, US and beyond, when the Ditcheva vs Kielholtz co-main event starts in every major timezone, and how each fighter is coming into the biggest women’s flyweight matchup of the year.
How to watch Dakota Ditcheva vs Denise Kielholtz
PFL New York broadcasts live on ESPN in the United States and streams internationally via the PFL’s broadcast partners. Full breakdown:
- United States (main card): ESPN — live at 8:00 PM ET
- United States (prelims): ESPN App — earlier the same evening
- United Kingdom: DAZN (check DAZN’s schedule for the PFL programming block)
- Rest of world: Via the PFL’s official streaming platform at pflmma.com/watch or regional PFL broadcast partners
The Ditcheva vs Kielholtz women’s flyweight matchup is confirmed as the co-main event, so it will land near the top of the main-card broadcast, before Usman Nurmagomedov and Archie Colgan close out the show for the PFL Lightweight World Championship.
PFL New York start time
The ESPN main card starts at 8:00 PM ET on Friday, July 31, 2026 from UBS Arena. Prelims stream earlier the same evening on the ESPN App. Approximate main-card start times in major markets:
- New York (EDT): Friday, 8:00 PM
- Los Angeles (PDT): Friday, 5:00 PM
- London (BST): Saturday, 1:00 AM
- Amsterdam / Berlin (CEST): Saturday, 2:00 AM
- Bangkok (ICT): Saturday, 7:00 AM
- Sydney (AEST): Saturday, 10:00 AM
The story behind the fight
Dakota Ditcheva and Denise Kielholtz were originally booked to fight at PFL Dubai on 7 February 2026, but a training-camp injury forced Ditcheva to withdraw. The bout was rebooked for PFL New York after a further six months of rehab, meaning the reigning PFL Women’s Flyweight World Champion will end a full 12-month layoff at UBS Arena — against the same opponent she was preparing for last winter.
The bout is contested at 125 lb as a non-title matchup. Ditcheva’s belt is not on the line, but her #1 ranking, her career momentum and the storyline for the rest of her 2026 all sit on top of Friday night.
Dakota Ditcheva form guide
Manchester-born Dakota Ditcheva (born 25 July 1998, English-Bulgarian) enters PFL New York with a perfect 15-0 professional MMA record. She won the 2024 PFL Women’s Flyweight World Championship and $1 million tournament prize with a second-round body-punch stoppage of Taila Santos at PFL 10 on 29 November 2024 — a result that made her the youngest world champion in PFL history and the first British female MMA world champion.
Ditcheva has fought once since that title win, taking a clean unanimous decision over Sumiko Inaba at PFL Champions Series 2 on 19 July 2025. She was ESPN, MMA Junkie, Combat Press, Cageside Press, LowKick MMA and Uncrowned’s Female Fighter of the Year for 2024, and has finished nine of her 15 professional opponents. Her striking-first, body-work-heavy style has been the through line of her PFL career, with body punches finishing multiple opponents including Santos and Chelsea Hackett.
Denise Kielholtz form guide
Dutch veteran Denise Kielholtz, 36, is one of the most decorated combat-sports strikers of her generation. Before making the move to MMA, she won world titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai across multiple sanctioning bodies including GLORY, the WKA and the WMC. She has been signed to Bellator MMA and then the PFL since Bellator’s absorption into the promotion, competing across bantamweight and flyweight.
Kielholtz’s striking pedigree makes her the closest thing to a like-for-like matchup Ditcheva could face at 125 lb. If she can turn the fight into a stand-up battle and lean on her championship-level kickboxing, the fireworks potential is real. If Ditcheva imposes her wrestling and body work, the champion should be a strong favourite to keep her unbeaten record intact.
What’s on the line
The belt stays with Ditcheva regardless of the result — but almost everything else about her 2026 is decided on Friday night. A clean return win keeps her at the front of the flyweight queue and reopens conversations about a proper title defence later in the year. A loss to Kielholtz would be the first setback of her professional career and reset the timeline on a fighter who was being built as the face of PFL’s women’s division.
Dakota Ditcheva vs Denise Kielholtz serves as the co-main event of PFL New York: Nurmagomedov vs Colgan, live from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Friday, July 31, 2026. The main card airs on ESPN in the US and on DAZN in the UK, with prelims streaming on the ESPN App.
