Marc Diakiese will follow in the footsteps of IBF World Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua by walking out to Stormzy’s ‘Shut Up’ when he enters the Octagon at UFC London.
The Doncaster fighter, who is 11-0 in his MMA career to date (2-0 UFC), is poised to take on Finland’s Teemu Packalen (8-1, 1-1 UFC) at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
And Diakiese smirked when asked about his entrance music during a media scrum ahead of the London card.
“It’s Shut Up, simple. Make him shut up - he’s not better than me,” the 24-year-old said.
https://twitter.com/Coral__Barry/status/842348731303395329
Diakiese is embarking on his third UFC bout inside six months, and hopes another victory will help him shake off the ‘up-and-comer’ tag which has been following him around.
Some observers were a little surprised not to see him on the main card at the O2, which is headlined by Jimi Manuwa’s light heavyweight bout with Corey Anderson, but Diakiese is unfazed.
“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 said.
“I’m sure my time will come [to get on the main card]. After this fight we’ll see.”
https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/842356551847419904
Diakiese is joined on the London card by compatriots Jimi Manuwa, Brad Pickett and teammate Scott Askham, among others, but while he's impressed with the state of British mixed martial arts, he will always be his own man,
"It’s always good to get these types of guys in the UFC now, you can see we’re moving up, we’re getting there," he said.
"My progress will be by myself though, my hard work will get me there."
