Dominant Cyborg submits Collins & calls out Ditcheva

Cris Cyborg put in another dominant performance as she submitted Sara Collins to retain her featherweight title at at PFL Lyon, before calling out Briton Dakota Ditcheva.

After wearing Collins down over two rounds, the Brazilian secured a rear-naked choke in the third to claim only the second submission victory of her 32-fight career.

The bout marked the penultimate bout of Cyborg’s legendary career, with the 40-year-old confirming she plans to retire next year.

For her final MMA bout, Cyborg – who has won world titles in four different promotions – called out undefeated Manchester flyweight Ditcheva and Northern Ireland’s Leah McCourt.

“I would like to fight in MMA again next year but it would be my last fight. I would like to do some boxing before I finish because I love it, maybe here in Lyon,” said Cyborg.

“I would like to fight Leah McCourt. If she is not available, I can go and cut weight and meet in the middle with Ditcheva.

Cyborg is widely regarded as one of the best women’s mixed martial artists of all time after triumphing in 29 of her 32 fights during an enduring 20-year career.

Her 21 wins by knockout have formed a reputation as a knockout artist, but it was her grappling which proved the difference against Australian Collins.

Former judoka Collins, 35, came into the bout having won the first six fights of her career but appeared overwhelmed by Cyborg’s pressure.

Cyborg pushed forward throughout, landing a number of thudding kicks and, despite two takedowns from Collins, she was able to reverse the second before applying a rear-naked choke to secure the win.

Cyborg has never fought professionally at flyweight so a catchweight bout with Ditcheva is the most likely scenario.

During her days with the UFC, however, she described the possibility of cutting down to 135lbs as “literally impossible” and has opened up previously about how difficult it can be to make weight as a featherweight.

Ditcheva, meanwhile, is booked to fight Dutch flyweight Denise Kielholtz in February and would be at a huge physical disadvantage if the fight were to happen.

In 2024, the 27-year-old became the first British woman to win an MMA world title when she beat Taila Santos to win the PFL’s flyweight tournament.

Ditcheva has grown into one of Britain’s most marketable fighters after winning the first 15 fights of her career – 12 of them via stoppage.

In the main event, Russia’s Vadim Nemkov won the PFL heavyweight world title by making short work of Brazil’s Renan Ferreira.

The 33-year-old dominated the action as he took Ferreira down early, before working his way to an arm triangle submission.

The first-round win cements Nemkov as a two-division champion after the former Bellator light-heavyweight title holder moved up to heavyweight last year.

Following his success, he called for match-up with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Last week Ngannou said his PFL contract ends “soon”, before adding “they have to give me a fight”.