Rafael Fiziev put on an absolute show against Marc Diakiese in their main card bout at UFC Fight Island 2 in Abu Dhabi.
The middle fight on the UFC Fight Island 2 card Saturday promised fireworks. Muay Thai expert Rafael Fiziev was stepping up on short notice to take on Britain’s “Bonecrusher,” Marc Diakiese. There was a high probability that someone was going to sleep in this one.
The fight began with some flashy strike attempts from Diakiese, but Fiziev timed a takedown nicely and went right into half guard. Fiziev lets Diakiese get back to his feet and unloads a massive kick to the body that landed clean. More kicks to the body landed for Fiziev, who added on a knee at the end.
Fiziev continued his attack to the body before taking the fight down to the ground again. Some nice ground-and-pound from Fiziev, Diakiese gets back to his feet, but Fiziev gets even more body work in before the round ended.
The second round opened up with a nice right hand landing for Diakiese. Fiziev backs away from a had kick nicely, and returns fire with a hard leg kick and kick to the body. The striking of Fiziev was really on point. Fiziev began to really chew up the lead leg of Diakiese with leg kicks, mixing in great kicks to the body as well. A missed jab from Fiziev turned into a spinning backfist and landed flush. Diakiese clinched up in an attempt for a takedown, but it’s defended nicely. The kicking game of Fiziev was ridiculously on point, but Diakiese was able to find his range with his punches, making his opponent pay for a few as the round ended.
Finally, the third and last round started with some big shots being unloaded from Fiziev. Some tentative striking from Diakiese, but Fiziev put up some nice counter striking in response. Fiziev clinched up with Diakiese against the cage, but it didn’t last very long. More kicks to the body continued to land for Fiziev, and they connected flush. Diakiese connected on a big shot but Fiziev seemed to eat it well. Another clean 1-2 landed for Diakiese, but Fiziev continued to push the action. A flying knee from Diakiese was just blocked as the round came to an end.
Official Result: Rafael Fiziev def. Marc Diakiese via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
