The Best and Worst from UFC Fight Night 107

#3 Best: Knockout of the year?

British striker Marc Diakiese was receiving some attention coming into the event largely because of his own doing.

Not many fighters would be willing to pose for a gay magazine, and by doing so, Diakiese has helped to break down a lot of stereotypes about MMA. He’s obviously a confident, charismatic fighter and having two impressive wins in his early UFC career helps, too.

Well, now he has three.

Most analysts were picking Diakiese to defeat Finland’s Teemu Packalen, but I don’t think anyone could’ve expected that it’d look that good.

After a couple of glancing blows via flashy kicks, Diakiese caught Packalen with a clean right hand, stiffening him up before he even hit the ground and causing him to fall in a comical, slow-motion fashion. It might’ve been the best knockout of 2017 thus far.

Years ago, hitting a knockout like that on an untelevised prelim would’ve been a little frustrating as only the live crowd would’ve seen it, but in 2017, that sort of thing doesn’t really matter. Not when Instagram and Twitter clips of the shot are able to go viral within seconds thanks to the UFC’s official accounts.

Diakiese cut a charismatic promo post-fight signalling that he’s ready for the big time. Whether that’s really the case is another thing entirely, but he’s probably got the promotional muscle behind him now after last night and that means a lot.

On a prelim card filled with decisions, a star was born here.