MMA News

Tag: Marc Diakiese

  • PFL Lightweight World Tournament Lineup Includes Former Champions And Ex-UFC Contender

    PFL Lightweight World Tournament Lineup Includes Former Champions And Ex-UFC Contender

    The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is continuing to roll out the rosters for eight World Tournaments set for 2025, with the latest release being the lightweight lineup.

    Major change is coming to the PFL this year, with the promotion making the decision to eliminate the season and playoff format from its yearly structure. Replacing that and the $1 million prize money will be Grand Prix-style tournaments across eight divisions, with the winners of each collecting $500,000.

    After confirming the dates and venue for four events that will host first-round matchups earlier this month, the PFL has been announcing the full rosters. Thus far, the welterweight, featherweight, women’s flyweight, bantamweight and middleweight lineups have been confirmed.

    And this week, the rollouts continued with the eight men set to compete in the inaugural lightweight tournament. Among the most notable inclusions is Gadzhi Rabadanov, a former Bellator contender who enjoyed a successful first year under the PFL banner, winning the 2024 lightweight season.

    He won’t be the only fighter with championship history competing. The man he defeated in last year’s final, ex-Bellator champion Brent Primus, will also feature in the bracket.

    Joining them will be the likes of former UFC contender Marc Diakiese, ex-Bellator title challenger Alexander Shabliy, and PFL veteran Clay Collard.

    See below for the full eight-man roster for this year’s lightweight World Tournament.

    • Gadzhi Rabadanov (24-4-2) 
    • Alexander Shabliy (24-4)
    • Marc Diakiese (18-7)
    • Jay Jay Wilson (10-1)
    • Mads Burnell (20-6)
    • Alfie Davis (17-5-1)
    • Brent Primus (15-4)
    • Clay Collard (25-14)
      • Alternate – Sergio Cossio (27-10-1)
      • Alternate – Robert Watley (15-3)
  • Bellator Champions Series Results & Highlights: Sara Collins Submits Leah McCourt

    Bellator Champions Series Results & Highlights: Sara Collins Submits Leah McCourt

    The fifth Bellator Champions Series event went down on Saturday, and MMA News has you covered with all the action.

    After taking the newly created Bellator Champions Series to Belfast, Paris, Dublin, and San Diego thus far since acquiring its rival promotion late last year, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) brought the brand back to English soil for the first time in 2024.

    And headlining inside the OVO Arena Wembley in London on September 14 was nine-fight Bellator veteran Leah McCourt. After the cancellation of a championship rematch between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards, her clash with Australia’s Sara Collins was promoted to main event status.

    The Melbourne native remained undefeated, submitting McCourt inside the opening round to secure top contender status for Cris Cyborg’s Bellator women’s featherweight title.

    Also of note was the return of England’s own Simeon Powell, who overcame two knockdowns in the opening round to fall on the right side of a split decision against Rafael Xavier in the co-headliner. Beforehand, former UFC athlete Marc Diakiese made a successful debut and unbeaten American prospect Archie Colgan continued his winning ways.

    With that said, see below for the full results, followed by all the highlights.

    Bellator Champions Series: McCourt vs. Collins Results & Highlights

    Full Card:

    • Women’s Featherweight: Sara Collins def. Leah McCourt via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 2:25
    • Light Heavyweight: Simeon Powell def. Rafael Xavier via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
    • Light Heavyweight: Luke Trainer def. Laurynas Urbonavicius via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 4:15
    • Lightweight: Marc Diakiese def. Tim Wilde via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
    • Lightweight: Archie Colgan def. Manoel Sousa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
    • Middleweight: Mike Shipman def. Eslam Abdul Baset via TKO (knee and punches): R2, 2:32
    • Catchweight (170lbs): Joseph Luciano def. Steven Hill via submission (anaconda choke): R2, 1:22
    • Catchweight (140lbs): Ciaran Clarke def. Tuomas Grönvall via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
    • Lightweight: Darragh Kelly def. Dmytrii Hrytsenko via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

    Darragh Kelly Def. Dmytrii Hrytsenko

    Ciaran Clarke Def. Tuomas Grönvall

    Joseph Luciano Def. Steven Hill

    Mike Shipman Def. Eslam Abdul Baset

    Archie Colgan Def. Manoel Sousa

    Marc Diakiese Def. Tim Wilde

    Luke Trainer Def. Laurynas Urbonavicius

    Simeon Powell Def. Rafael Xavier

    Sara Collins Def. Leah McCourt

  • Marc Diakiese Explains ‘Relief’ Switching From UFC To PFL: ‘The Way They Treated Me As A Fighter…’

    Marc Diakiese Explains ‘Relief’ Switching From UFC To PFL: ‘The Way They Treated Me As A Fighter…’

    Former UFC lightweight Marc Diakiese is one of the latest fighters to make the switch over from the UFC to the Professional Fighters League (PFL).

    He leaves behind a seven-year stint in the promotion, a run that saw him compete 15 times inside the Octagon.

    His PFL signing was announced at the recent PFL Europe event in Newcastle and his debut fight has already been made official.

    “Bonecrusher” will compete in a battle of Brit strikers when he faces Tim Wilde in London on September 14 in his Bellator Champions Series debut.

    Diakiese has now spoken more about his decision to make the switch in order to start what he sees as a new chapter for his career.

    Marc Diakiese Says Lack Of Activity Led To Him Leaving UFC, Joining PFL

    Diakiese spoke about his departure from the UFC in a recent interview with InsideFighting, during which he made it clear that he didn’t want to say the wrong thing or give the wrong impression.

    For him, the decision became an easy one over time because of two main factors, one from both sides.

    Diakiese was becoming frustrated with how long he was having to wait before receiving fights, and after his win over Kauê Fernandes last November, he was even waiting to be cut by the promotion.

    He detailed how this growing frustration and desire to be active meant that he felt like he was being “set free” when everything was finalized with the PFL.

    “Fresh start. For me, people see it different, but for me, it’s actually a relief. I can actually focus on certain things that I want to focus on, as in my career, so it’s a perfect spot for me and I’m really happy where I am,” Diakiese said. “There was a couple issues with myself before leaving, so I’m just happy that I’ve been given a spot where I can perform because I’m 31. Like I said, I want to be busy, active, put on a show. Not just one win and wait six months. For me, I can’t be doing that.

    “It might come out wrong but it was just like, I don’t want to wait, I don’t want to wait around. It were like okay, I had a fight in Brazil, after that I got given another fight in Vegas but it was another five-week notice, it was too short for me and I was hoping for something (in) Europe. Then they said July, so I was waiting for that, but then for some reason I got nothing from them on the July card. So I’m going to wait around and just keep waiting. I want to be active.”

    The other side to the coin was that although he was hoping to be kept more active in the UFC, he was coming around to the idea of signing with the PFL after attending events and speaking to fighters on the roster.

    As he has previously stated, Francis Ngannou played a role in the move, which only made the decision easier once it became time for him to make the call.

    “Just the way they treated me as a fighter and like, yeah, I’m sure you know I’ve been speaking to Francis Ngannou for quite a while and he spoke to me like I was a younger brother and talked to me maybe like six months ago, eight months ago. You know when you’ve come back to it and you just think about it and you’re like, ‘Is it right? Is it not?’ But when it came, it was the easiest decision, like, ‘Yeah okay, I don’t want to sign with anybody else but PFL.’”