Preview: UFC 299 Prelims

Light Heavyweights

Ion Cutelaba (17-9-1, 6-8-1 UFC) vs. Philipe Lins (17-5, 3-2 UFC)

ODDS: Cutelaba (-135), Lins (+114)

A late scratch from a card in October, this well-matched bout gets the UFC run-back treatment. It has gone under the radar due to inactivity, but Lins has had a quietly successful run since returning to light heavyweight in 2022. After a solid if unremarkable career at 205 pounds, “Monstro” signed with the Professional Fighters League ahead of its 2018 season, moving up to heavyweight in the process. That decision paid off handsomely, with the Brazilian winning the heavyweight bracket handily and walking away with the million-dollar prize. Lins then turned around and signed with the UFC, where he was expected to make a quick impact. Within months of his promotional debut, he had suffered one-sided losses to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser. Medical issues kept Lins out of action for nearly two years ahead of his return at light heavyweight, after which he looked unrecognizable physically and found some consistent success. Lins’ slow-paced combination of power punching and grinding wrestling has not been particularly exciting, but it has gotten him to three straight wins.

As Lins has found consistency, Moldova’s Cutelaba has trended in quite the opposite direction. Cutelaba made his UFC debut in 2016 at just 22 years old, showing some physical tools to go with some well-rounded skills. After a few fights in the UFC, Cutelaba decided to live up to his “Hulk” nickname and fight with unchecked aggression, mostly to his detriment. Through 2021, Cutelaba was still able to gut his way through some wild fights, but three straight losses in 2022 saw him go careening off the rails against some dangerous opponents. Cutelaba’s lone fight of 2023 saw him run over Boser, who was making an ill-advised cut down to light heavyweight. It at least served as a reminder of what Cutelaba is capable of at times, but this figures to be a stouter challenge. Lins is patient and consistent to a fault in recent years, which means he should be able to survive the early going against Cutelaba. That alone seems to be enough to beat the Moldovan nowadays. The pick is Lins via second-round stoppage.

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