LAS VEGAS – So Dan Hooker thinks there’s a lot of “smoke and mirrors” in Marc Diakiese’s flashy striking?

Well, Diakiese (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) replied with a wide smile, guess they’ll just have to see about that at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. But, for the record, it’s not like the Brit is particularly impressed by Hooker’s (14-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) style, either.

“His game, as far as I know, he wins fights that he should win,” Diakiese told MMAjunkie. “When it comes to people like me, he loses. I just think he’s an average fighter. His style – he comes forward, but it hasn’t got much movement. Because he just comes forward. To me, I find it pretty easy to fight a (muay) Thai guy.”

Considering Diakiese was the one who asked for it, it makes sense that he approves of the matchup. And he is not alone there, given the lightweights were chosen to fill the main card slot left open by John Lineker’s last-minute withdrawal from UFC 219.

Diakiese, who until Wednesday thought he was going to be in an FS1-televised preliminary card scrap, certainly sees the promotion to the pay-per-view portion as a “bonus.” But, as he looks to bounce back from a loss to Drakkar Klose at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, the “Bonecrusher” knows what’s really important here.

“Winning means more than anything,” Diakiese said. “They can put you in the main card, pay-per-view, whatever. If you lose, then it’s not good. To me, my focus is on winning.”

Winning hasn’t been a problem for Diakiese in the past. Before dropping a split call to Klose, the 24-year-old Brit was on a 12-fight tear. The three most recent took place in the octagon, where he knocked out Lukasz Sajewski and Teemu Packalen, with a unanimous decision over Frankie Perez squeezed in between.

While there was a process to getting over the first loss of his pro career, Diakiese says it wasn’t a very long one. Nothing that a bit of food and relaxation with his family couldn’t cure. With that done, he went back to training at Florida’s American Top Team looking to resume what he thinks could be a very bright future.

And that leads us back to New Zealand’s Hooker. Despite thinking a lot of what Diakiese does in the octagon is only good to impress the fans, “The Hangman” believes that there is a lot of effectiveness to his “very well-rounded” opponent as well.

But don’t expect Diakiese to repay the kindness in his own assessment of how the bout is going to go down.

“I want to dominate,” Diakiese said. “Dan Hooker should have been working in an office or something. He should work in an office. He’s not a fighter. Like I said, he win fights that he should win. The fights to build himself up, he loses – and it’s going to be exactly the same. He’s going to lose against the ‘Bonecrusher.’”

To hear more from Diakiese, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 219, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.