Marc Diakiese has his first assignment after years in the UFC, and it’ll be in his back yard.
The London-based fighter was expected to fight once this year either for Bellator or the PFL, which purchased Bellator in 2023, and then enter the 2025 PFL lightweight season on a quest for a $1 million title. Friday, Bellator announced he’s got a booking for the fall.
Diakiese (17-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will take on Tim Wilde (17-5-1, 5-2-1 BMMA) at the Bellator Champions Series: London event set for Sept. 14 at OVO Arena Wembley.
𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝘼 𝙁𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏! 🔥
🏴 Tim Wilde 🆚 Marc Diakiese 🇨🇩
Tim Wilde heads to #BellatorLondon, looking to get back in the win column after his first defeat since 2019 at #BellatorBelfast.@TimWildeMMA welcomes @Marc_Diakiese to the Bellator Cage on September 14th , who makes… pic.twitter.com/OCb6Gv8dM2
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 5, 2024
Diakiese went 8-7 as a UFC lightweight over a stretch of about seven years. He won his first three fights in the promotion and moved to a 12-0 record, but then hit a slump of three straight losses and five setbacks in seven fights.
He left the UFC with a win this past November – a split call over Kaue Fernandes in Sao Paulo. Diakiese fought in England five times in the UFC and went 4-1 in front of his home fans.
Wilde had a six-fight unbeaten streak snapped with a first-round knockout loss to Manoel Sousa in March. Prior to that, he was on a 5-0-1 run in Bellator after a 2019 setback to former champion Brent Primus in a main event.
