Did PFL make a mistake with their women's flyweight field?

This isn't about who's *in* the field- that's material another post- but rather about who's *not* in the field- previous winner Dakota Ditcheva (not surprising, given that she hadn't committed to another run through a tournament format).

With the headline that the reigning champion isn't in the field, was this the right call for PFL to assemble the women's flyweight field without her?

WRONG CALL: The field won't include "the best".

During her run to the 2024 crown, Ditcheva's four wins were all finishes and her first three all came in the first round. Ditcheva is clearly the cream of the crop of the women's flyweights at PFL and there's going to be fair criticism that the 2025 winner won't have had to take down Ditcheva to claim the top spot- not the fighter's fault, to be fair, but something worth mentioning. 

RIGHT CALL: Other fighters can be spotlighted. 

Leaving Ditcheva out of the field means that PFL can spotlight other fighters that might not get a lot of media attention otherwise.

Elora Dana, for instance, is 7-0 with five finishes and currently fights out of the Jungle Fights promotion in Brazil. A UFC deal could be in her future if she impresses enough under the ESPN spotlight. 

There's also Diana Avsaragova, who's 6-1. Her wins include a twenty-nine-second knockout and a unanimous decision on a one-week-notice opponent. 

The field also includes two very experienced fighters: thirty-fight veteran Liz Carmouche and twenty-six-fight veteran Taila Santos.