UFC Fight Night 172: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 - Predictions and Picks

#3 UFC Lightweight Division: Marc Diakiese vs. Rafael Fiziev

Marc Diakiese still has the potential to become a top-level UFC Lightweight

As a pointer to how quickly time passes, it doesn’t seem like over three years ago since Diakiese burst onto the scene. ‘The Bonecrusher’ reeled off three impressive wins to begin his UFC career, going 12-0 overall. With a rangy, hard-hitting striking style and incredible athletic ability, he looked like a star in the making.

Unfortunately, the Congo-born native of Britain then ran into some serious trouble. He lost three fights in a row, all in a different fashion, showing that he had plenty to learn.

Drakkar Klose outpointed him after hurting him with low kicks. Dan Hooker was able to catch him in a guillotine to tap him out. And Nasrat Haqparast simply walked through his range to land heavy shots on the inside.

Those losses knocked Diakiese way down the totem pole, but he has since rebounded. His wins over Joseph Duffy and Lando Vannata showed that he’s learned to use his range far more effectively in terms of his striking.

And while we still don’t know how effective his grappling is, we do know that his wrestling is pretty powerful – he slammed Klose in their fight and also took down Vannata on a couple of occasions.

His opponent this weekend, Fiziev – a native of Kyrgyzstan – has far less experience in the UFC and in MMA overall. ‘Ataman’ was knocked out violently in his UFC debut by Magomed Mustafaev, but he rebounded with a solid decision win over Alex White in October.

An aggressive striker, Fiziev looks to chain combinations together and displays little regard in terms of defense. He’s extremely quick, even for a Lightweight, but judging by what he’s shown in the UFC thus far, he’s also extremely hittable. He’s also notably shorter and less rangy than Diakiese.

The most likely thing Fiziev is going to try to do is wade in as Haqparast did and catch Diakiese with punishing strikes, but I think he’s going to find it hard. ‘The Bonecrusher’ is much improved since that fight and is now more adept at moving around the Octagon in order to catch an onrushing foe with big shots.

Add in a powerful takedown game and far more UFC experience, and to me, this looks like Diakiese’s fight to lose. The explanation could well be that the UFC still wants to push ‘The Bonecrusher’ as a potential star, and so he’s been handed a stylistically good fight on a main card in order to shine.

The Pick: Diakiese via first-round KO