Tomorrow night in the featured of prelim of UFC Vegas 26, we will see a heavyweight showdown. Veteran Ben Rothwell (38-13) is taking on former PFL heavyweight champion Philipe Lins (14-5).
It seems crazy to think about, but Ben Rothwell has been with the UFC since 2009. He made his debut against Cain Velasquez and ultimately got stopped in that fight. While he’s never become the champion, Rothwell has put together a solid career.
If you think of some of the best heavyweights over the last decade, Rothwell ahs probably been in there with them. His best two octagon wins are over Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett. We last saw him in October where he dropped a decision to Marcin Tybura.
That fight snapped a two-fight win streak. Rothwell will look to bounce back against another fighter who is in desperate need of a victory. Philipe Lins came into the UFC with a good amount of hype.
Lins looked like a world beater in PFL when he won the heavyweight title in 2018. However, after not competing in 2019, Lins joined the UFC in 2020. Last year he was completely underwhelming going 0-2 and getting starched by Tanner Boser in his last fight in June.
UFC Vegas 26 Prediction
If I was a betting man, I would stay away from this UFC Vegas 26 matchup. I honestly don’t even know how to really predict this fight because I truly don’t know what to expect from Philipe Lins.
Lins ran through the competition in PFL and went 4-0 with four stoppages to capture the heavyweight title. However, if you take out those fights and just look at the Bellator and UFC appearances, he’s 0-4 and he’s been stopped three times.
Maybe it says something about the 2018 PFL heavyweights. With Ben Rothwell, I know what I’m going to get. The UFC veteran is going to come forward and put out a decent output.
He’s got pretty good power and very good chokes. Ultimately, I can’t pick Philipe Lins in this one. I think Rothwell is going to get it done and ultimately this will be the last time we see Lins inside the octagon.
Prediction: Ben Rothwell by TKO – Round 2