In the famous words of Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you
hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving
forward.”
Philipe
Lins is like that. A native of Brazil’s arid northeast, the now
40-year-old is mere days away from the most important fight of his
career — facing Francis
Ngannou on Netflix at
Most Valuable Promotions’s inaugural card.
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In his native Portuguese, Lins shared some of the challenges as
well as the stubborn drive that brought him to this pivotal
moment.
“I had an excellent start to my MMA career in Brazil. I went 7-0
there. That’s when I caught the attention of my first international
MMA organization — Bellator. I debuted there in 2014. At Bellator,
I went 3-3. It wasn’t great, but I was able to show my talent,
skills and aggression.”
Lins’ last appearance at Bellator
MMA couldn’t have gone worse — a knockout loss in the first
round to current
Professional Fighters League champion Vadim
Nemkov. But even in a loss, he saw the great work performed by
the Florida-based
American Top Team. It was enough to prompt him to move to the
United States and start anew. A year after that, he was brought
into the PFL on 20 days’ notice. That one fight was the start of a
dominant winning streak that culminated in becoming a champion,
along with a nice $1 million check.
“It completely changed my life. It made all my work, all the blood
and tears, all the chances I took; all worth it. I was able to
showcase my abilities in the best possible fashion. That year, in
2018, I came into the PFL as a heavyweight. I had only fought as a
light-heavyweight up to then. But I was highly confident. After
entering the tournament through a side window, I scored three
knockouts and one submission, wrapping up 2018 in a historic event
at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve. That’s when I became
world champion. Since then, I’ve been among the best heavyweights
in the MMA world. I’ll always be thankful to the PFL. They changed
not just my life, but also that of many other fighters.”
Afterward, he took 2019 off to deal with some injuries. He had
pushed himself too hard.
“Around that time, my PFL contract was going to end, and the
UFC showed some interest. It was a dream of mine. I signed with
them in the middle of the COVID pandemic, in 2020. Things felt very
uncertain around the world. In the UFC, I did well. After starting
out on two losses as a heavyweight, I took a little time to
recalibrate. We decided I’d come back as a light-heavyweight.
Things started working out again. I was healthier. I won four in a
row, including a KO against Ovince St.
Preux. After I defeated Ion
Cutelaba in 2024, the UFC chose not to renew me. I get it. It’s
their choice. But I’m also thankful to the UFC. It was one of the
best contracts I’ve had in my life.”
Since then, he found time to rest and take care of his family in
Brazil. A daughter was born. And he kept training the whole time.
There was the possibility of earning a paycheck in the Global Fight
League, as most MMA fans know, nothing has materialized yet.
“The GFL came around with great proposals, but I believe they bit
[off] more than they could chew. In the end, their cards were
canceled. They lost credibility with that. It did bother me
personally, since I had gone into training camp expecting to fight
for them. They mentioned a profit-sharing arrangement with the
fighters. I hope that does take place, since we are the ones who
make the show happen. We deserve proper payment and recognition.
But my focus right now is on doing well within MVP.”
The
MVP “Rousey vs. Carano” card takes place on May 16 at the
Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Francis
Ngannou, a former UFC champion on a seven-fight KO streak, is
an intimidating presence. Lins has been getting ready for him with
his usual partners. At ATT, there’s never a shortage of talented
big guys.
“I’ve been training at American Top Team since 2017. It’s my home
here in the U.S. I worked on my wrestling, muay thai, strength and
conditioning and boxing. I’ve only worked with boxing coach Ivan de
Oliveira for three years. But during that time, he’s added much to
my abilities. American Top Team has athletes from every part of the
world, so there are several training partners with Francis’ size
and style, guys like Renan
Ferreira, Vitor
“Vitao” Resende and [former UFC champion] Junior dos
Santos.”
Note that both Ferreira and dos Santos have failed to defeat
Ngannou’s devastating power. Nonetheless, Lins feels confident
about his own future as well as MVP’s.
“I have a one-bout contract. It’s just to fight Francis. I see
myself as the winner. I’m going to shock the world. I would love to
sign a multi-fight contract with them. Our sport needs
organizations like MVP that are already changing things in boxing.
I believe this is the first of many MMA events they’ll be putting
on.”