Preview: UFC on ESPN 49 Prelims

Featherweights

Melquizael Costa (19-6, 0-1 UFC) vs. Austin Lingo (9-2, 2-2 UFC)

ODDS: Costa (-210), Lingo (+180)

It has been an uphill climb at times, but Lingo has carved out a niche as an entertaining featherweight. “Lights Out” was an appropriate nickname for the Texan coming off the regional scene, where he had a penchant for quick knockouts. His UFC debut loss, which saw him get outmaneuvered and neutralized by Youssef Zalal without much trouble, was a bit of a rude awakening. In the years since, Lingo’s game has remained simple but effective, centered mostly on marching down his opponents for 15 minutes in the name of landing something big. While the knockouts have not come, Lingo had proven to have enough pace and power to separate himself on the scorecards prior to his March loss to Nate Landwehr. Lingo looks to rebound against Brazil’s Costa, whose cut down to featherweight is an interesting choice, given that he had seemingly settled in as a lightweight prior to his late-notice UFC debut in January. Costa is on the readier side in terms of late-notice signees, fighting behind a pressure style with a lot of offensive options, and he put in a solid effort before falling to Thiago Moises in January. His willingness to meet Lingo head-on will probably make this more difficult than it needs to be, but Costa reads as the more athletic and versatile fighter on top of having the size advantage; and if this cut to 145 goes well, he might also have the better gas tank. Lingo could change things with one big shot, but the pick is Costa via third-round stoppage.

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