England’s Marc Diakiese returns to the octagon this weekend at UFC Fight Island 2, part of a British invasion of Abu Dhabi.
“Bonecrusher” will bring a two-fight win streak with him when he enters the octagon against Muay Thai expert Rafael Fiziev. Diakiese (14-3) is one of several fighters from England and the surrounding area looking to make some noise during the UFC’s Fight Island shows.
Others, like Molly McCann, and Wales’ Jack Shore, have already had their chance. On Saturday, Nad Narimani, Ireland’s Joe Duffy, and Wales’ Brett Johns have their turn.
Diakiese, for one, believes that at least in England, there’s a resurgence among MMA fighters. And a new British champion could be crowned soon. Michael Bisping, of course, was the first.
“Now I do believe so, yeah. Cuz a lot of fighters are going over to America,” he said, observing that “they’re staying over, now they’re mixing it up.”
“So wrestling was bad but, I think we picked up on that. And I do feel now we’re gonna get a lot of champions coming out of England,” he predicted.
Of course, Diakiese, in the deep 155lb division in the UFC, has his own fight to worry about. He was supposed to compete at UFC London in March, a card that was scrapped at the 11th hour.
“It was very, not nice to get, obviously being cancelled, but I just take everything as it comes. I just took some time off and just went back training again,” he said of the event falling through. “I was hoping to get another match-up at some point. I didn’t know when I was fighting, so I was just hoping for the best.”
Diakiese had gone to Holland for his UFC London camp. When he returned and found out he wasn’t fighting, he just kept on training. Even through the pandemic. “I’ve got a small team around me, it didn’t really effect me that much. I carried on training with my team.”
Which has him ready for this weekend’s bout, finally arriving after a couple of names dropped out. Which may work out for fans, as Diakiese’s pairing with Rafael Fiziev promises fireworks.
Watch the full UFC Fight Island 2 virtual media day scrum with Marc Diakiese above.
