Philipe Lins joined the UFC after becoming the 2018 PFL heavyweight champion, but he has only fought three times inside the octagon since. Lins, who has had nine fights postponed or cancelled in the last three years is eager to put all of the drama behind him.
Lins returns Saturday to face Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Vegas 69, a match-up that was booked twice before in 2021 and 2022 but has yet to come to fruition. Now, the Brazilian heavyweight feels “way more prepared than when we were going to fight in 2021.”
“Every time someone asks me about those cancelled fights and all those issues, I say I’m changing my nickname from ‘Monstro’ to ‘Drama Fighter,'” Lins said with a laugh on Trocacao Franca podcast. “But I’m going back to ‘Monstro’ after this fight with Saint Preux.”
Lins is 1-2 in the UFC, having lost to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser and then rebounding against Marcin Prachnio. In the last two years, he was booked to fight Azamat Murzakanov, Don’Tale Mayes and Maxim Grishin.
“It is frustrating,” Lins stated, but he believes God and never loses an opportunity. After my two first UFC fights I experienced drama after each one. I was hurt, had to cancel fights and I got injured.
” It’s frustrating but I am now able to do what my heart desires, and that’s go out there, show work, and let everything else fall into the octagon. I know I let a lot of people down with all these problems, I apologize to them, but sometimes it’s out of our hands.”
Saint Preux recovered from a loss to Boser in his most recent octagon appearance, going 2-0 over Mauricio Rua with a split decision in May 2022. Bouncing back between wins and losses since 2018, OSP is still “a very experienced and dangerous southpaw, who has knocked out a lot of opponents,” Lins said.
” I respect Ovince St Preux, however it’s now,” he said. It’s my time. I’m a hungry bear. A bear spends a lot of time hibernating, waiting for the right time to wake up and eat. You can’t stand in front of a bear when he gets up to eat. With all due respect to Ovince Saint Preux for everything he’s done for the sport, this is my moment.
“It might be a knockout, a submission, or maybe even a decision. All I know is that I’m leaving everything in there to come out with my second UFC win. Trade with him. I want to make him lose. I’ll definitely have the opportunity to land a hand. If not, I’ll take him down and go for a submission. We can’t be reckless because it’s high-level. It’s high level, we can’t get reckless. I aim for the finish. I go there to entertain my fans and put on thrilling fights.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/2/18/23604147/philipe-lins-bear-hibernating-ovince-saint-preux-ufc-vegas-69?rand=96749
