Preview: UFC on ESPN 33 ‘Blaydes vs. Daukaus’

Lightweights

NR | Viacheslav Borshchev (6-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. NR | Marc Diakiese (14-5, 5-5 UFC)

ODDS: Borshchev (-160), Diakiese (+140)

If Borshchev can follow up on the momentum of his electric UFC debut, 2022 can be a breakout year for “Slava Claus.” Borshchev was one of the highlights of last year’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series, showing some impressively fast hands in his second-round knockout of Chris Duncan and demonstrating some natural charisma in the process. His first UFC fight proper picked up right where that left off, as January saw Borshchev stave off the wrestling of Dakota Bush enough to crumple him with a beautiful shot to the liver for a first-round finish. Borshchev is still less than three years into his pro career, so there are still plenty of unanswered questions as far as how he looks against tougher tests, but so far so good. He will look to keep the momentum going against Diakiese, who feels like he is in a must-win position. Diakiese was pegged for greatness leading into his 2016 UFC debut, as “Bonecrusher” had made a name for himself as one of the top prospects in Britain, owing to his impressive physicality and crushing knockout power. Diakiese leaned on his physical gifts to win his first three UFC fights—two rough grinds and then a brutal knockout of Teemu Packalen—but a three-fight losing streak required him to regroup and add some depth to his game. Diakiese is obviously a much-improved fighter from when he first entered the Octagon, but it has been a slow process for him to effectively add tools to his toolbox, leading to some frustration when more finished products, like 2020 adversary Rafael Fiziev, are able to step right in and get ahead of him in the pecking order. Diakiese’s November loss to Rafael Alves was a bit disheartening, if only because it was quickly over before he got to show much and also because it put him in the position of badly needing a win against a tricky opponent here. Diakiese can still get thrown off by a diverse and volume-heavy striker like Borshchev, but there are questions about how well Borshchev can keep things up. His cardio is still relatively unproven and Diakiese is historically durable enough—both of his finish losses have been via submission—that Borshchev will likely need to put together a consistent 15 minutes, lest Diakiese turn this into a grind. Borshchev has shown enough promise that he could win this on volume early and keep the fight standing late, but the bet is that Diakiese can find some moments of his own offense and bank some control time against the fence. The pick is Diakiese via decision.

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