This might be difficult to watch, but at least one of these light
heavyweight veterans will get some momentum going. Lins’ UFC career
has been a disappointment most of the way. After getting released
from Bellator MMA, Lins moved up to heavyweight and won the
Professional Fighters League’s 2018 tournament, leading to some
hopes that “Monstro” could cause some damage when he showed up in
the Octagon over a year later. Against his competition in the PFL,
Lins had the extra bit of hand speed to make his slow-paced
approach work, but he got basically nothing done in his two UFC
bouts at heavyweight. Andrei
Arlovski outworked him over three rounds before Tanner
Boser put him away via first-round knockout. It was nearly two
years until Lins’ return in April, which also marked his cut back
down to 205 pounds in what seemed like a questionable move.
However, Lins managed to beat Marcin
Prachnio in what was easily the best performance of his UFC
career. Lins looks to continue his turnaround against Grishin,
another fighter who made the PFL-to-UFC jump in 2020. A pro dating
back all the way to 2008, Russia’s “Maximus” is a well-rounded
fighter who rides the line between defensively sound and overly
cautious. Most of his performances center on trying to neutralize
the best parts of his opponent’s game and hoping to outlast a
one-dimensional opponent. It is essentially a 50-50 proposition as
to whether Lins can find an early advantage—he was able to find
some success wrestling against Prachnio, but Grishin is a much
stouter force—but given how he faded over time in his return to
light heavyweight, the M-1 Global alum should be the more
consistent force over 15 minutes, if not a particularly dynamic
one. The pick is Grishin via decision.
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