Mark Diakiese will look to bounce back from the first loss of his career, as he takes on Dan Hooker at UFC 219 on Saturday, December 30 in Las Vegas. Diakiese won the first 12 fights of his career, but he lost a split decision to Drakkar Klose in July. Hooker is 14-7 and coming off a win against Ross Pearson in June. This fight is one of four on the preliminary card at UFC 219 on FS1, leading up to a five-fight main card on pay-per-view, featuring Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm. Let’s look at Hooker vs. Diakiese.
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Dan Hooker (14-7, 4-3 UFC)
Hooker has alternated wins and losses since he came into the UFC in 2014. He began with a knockout of Ian Entwistle in June of 2014. He lost a unanimous decision to Maximo Blanco in September of 2014 but bounced back to knock out Hatsu Hioki in May of 2015. He couldn’t follow up that win, as he lost a unanimous decision to Yair Rodriguez in October of 2015. Hooker split his two fights in 2016, as he submitted Mark Eddiva in March of 2016 and he lost a unanimous decision to Jason Knight in November. Hooker knocked out Pearson in June of this year.
Hooker said to FanSided that he expects a very exciting fight against Diakiese. “It’s a very exciting fight, very exciting card. I just can’t wait to get over there and soak it all up. I think it’s a very good matchup. He’s a big name, he’s a sharp guy, he’s a dangerous guy with a nice highlight reel. I’m a dangerous guy with a nice highlight reel. It’s a battle of the highlight reels.”
Hooker said this matchup could be Fight of the Night. “He likes to push a good pace but I’m ready and so fit it would be a shame if I didn’t set the pace high from the star. I’m expecting a war. If he matches my pace then we’re getting Fight of The Night 100 percent.”
Marc Diakiese (12-1, 3-1 UFC)
Diakiese made his UFC debut last October and he knocked out Lukasz Sajewski in the second round. Diakiese won a unanimous decision against Frankie Perez in December of last year and he knocked out Teemu Packalen in March of this year. The first loss for Diakiese came in a tough split decision loss to Klose in July.
Diakiese said to MMAFighting.com that he expects a striking battle. “I don’t think I’ve ever fought someone with his level of striking, but I’m confident that I can come out on top.”
Diakiese said to Fightful that he is going to win by knockout. "I'm going to knock him out. That's the plan, and that's what I'm doing to do,"said Diakiese.
UFC Picks
I think this fight gives us a couple of good plays. I think Diakiese is the better fighter and I expect him to bounce back in a big way and get this win against Hooker. I also agree with what Hooker said about this being a highlight reel type of fight and with what Diakiese said about getting the knockout. I don’t see this fight going the distance, so I will also play the fight to go under the rounds total.
UFC 219 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 30 with the feature bout a matchup between Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm. There are five fights on the main pay-per-view card and five on the preliminary card, with four on FS1 and one on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (pay-per-view)
Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza
Jimmie Rivera vs. John Lineker
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Khalil Rountree vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Dan Hooker vs. Marc Diakiese
Myles Jury vs. Rick Glenn
Louis Smolka vs. Matheus Nicolau
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Marvin Vettori vs. Omari Akhmedov
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