Lightweight Marc Diakiese has got his wish, as he’ll be fighting on July’s UFC London card — though not against the opponent he was hoping for.
Diakiese (15-5), in what will be the first fight of a new UFC contract, will face Damir Hadzovic (14-6) on July 23, 2022 at the O2 Arena in London, England. After his most recent outing, “Bonecrusher” had called out Drew Dober for a fight on the UFC London card; he got the date, just not the opponent.
UFC officials announced the booking on Tuesday.
The British-Congolese fighter will be looking to make it two in a row come July. Rolling the dice and betting on himself, he fought out his deal against Viacheslav Borschev at UFC Columbus in March. The fight, coming just a week after the UFC’s triumphant return to the O2 in London, ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Diakiese.
Hadzovic last fought in June of 2021, picking up a win over Yancy Medeiros, who has since landed with Bellator MMA. That win snapped a two-fight skid for “The Bosnian Bomber,” who fights out of The Netherlands.
Overall, Hadzovic is 4-4 through eight fights in the UFC.
The second UFC London card of 2022 is expected to be headlined once again by heavyweight Tom Aspinall, this time facing off with Curtis Blaydes. The following match-ups have been reported for the event:
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall
- Jack Hermansson vs. Darren Till
- Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson
- Paul Craig vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson
- Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Böhm
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadzovic
