Dana White praises incredible striking duel between Rafael Fiziev and Marc Diakiese: “Oh my God”

UFC president Dana White was a big fan of the striking duel between lightweight standouts Rafael Fiziev and Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Island 2.

In what was later deemed the “Fight of the Night” at UFC Fight Island 2, Fiziev and Diakiese went three hard rounds of pure striking, throwing everything in their arsenal at one another over the 15 minutes allotted. Fiziev ended up winning a unanimous decision in the fight, but Diakiese proved his worth with a durable showing against an elite striker.

Speaking to the media following UFC on ESPN+ 30, White praised Fiziev and Diakiese for putting on an awesome fight for the fans.

“Yeah. (Fiziev) looked awesome, man. What a fight. I mean you gotta give respect to both guys in that fight, man. Some of those shots that were thrown. Kicks to the body. Oh my God. Yeah, it was a great fight. It was ‘Fight of the Night,'” White said.

For Fiziev, the loss improved his UFC record to 2-1, with a previous decision win over Alex White and a TKO loss to Magomed Mustafaev. As for Diakiese, he dropped to 5-4 overall inside the Octagon. Neither man is a household name by any means, but with this fight taking place on the main card of a Fight Island event during a pandemic where a lot more people are watching television, both men probably gained a bunch more fans from it.

As for what’s next for both guys, it’s really impossible to say. Despite two straight wins in the UFC, it’s hard to give Fiziev a top-15 opponent. However, he could fight a veteran fighter ranked outside the top-15 such as Stevie Ray, who was supposed to fight Diakiese at the cancelled UFC London card. As for Diakiese, he probably gets a lower-ranked lightweight coming off of a loss such as Frank Camacho.

Do you agree with Dana White that