The Marc Diakiese hype train will roll into its 12th stop on Saturday night.
Hoping to blot the Doncaster lightweight’s spotless copybook is Finnish 155lber Teemu Packalen, who holds a 1-1 record under the UFC banner.
Packalen entered the Octagon with plenty of hype and an undefeated seven-fight professional career but came up short in a unanimous decision against Mikael Lebout in 2015.
Diakiese hasn’t encountered so much as a speed-bump since making his UFC debut last October and he doesn’t foresee any resistance in his third outing as a UFC employee.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/842668522207690752
“If I could predict how Saturday night will go, I see it coming first round with a spinning head kick,” Diakiese told JOE at UFC London’s media day.
‘Bonecrusher’ exploded on to the UFC scene with a ferocious knockout of Lukasz Sajewski in Manchester before a decision win over Frankie Perez in December set him up for a London showdown with Packalen.
And there were no pleasantries exchanged at the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday evening, when Diakiese slapped away the olive branch of his upcoming opponent.
😳 @Marc_Diakiese vs @PackalenTeemu #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/qJdNStBD1S
— UFC (@ufc) March 17, 2017
The lightweight clash is scheduled for the prelims of UFC London but Diakiese is not too concerned about the fact that he has yet to experience the feel of a UFC main card as, at 24, he’s got nothing but time and potential on his side.
“I believe I’m one of the best so it’s up to them what they call me… but I’ll just keep beating these guys up until they stop calling me an up-and-comer so it doesn’t really matter,” he added.
“I’m sure my time will come [to get on the main card]. After this fight we’ll see.”
