Fighters On The Rise | UFC Fight Night: Kara-France vs Albazi

The 29-year-old Silva earned her place on the UFC roster with a second-round submission win over Yan Qihui late in Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series, extending her record to 14-4 in the process. She made her promotional debut seven months later, landing on the main card of a Fight Night card opposite Poliana Botelho, where she maintained her winning ways by registering a submission win via D’Arce choke in the waning seconds of the opening stanza.

Now, 364 days later, Silva will finally step into the Octagon for her sophomore appearance, squaring off with fellow Brazilian and promotional newcomer Ketlen Souza in what should be a competitive and compelling bout.

Silva was initially scheduled to return earlier this year in a matchup against Priscila Cachoeira, but “Zombie Girl” was four pounds over the non-title limit, resulting in the fight being cancelled and Silva’s return being delayed.

Santos was handed a pretty difficult assignment for his UFC debut when he was paired off with Julio Arce in the UFC 273 opener 13 months ago. Fighting for the first time in 28 months, the young Brazilian couldn’t match the output and technical acumen of the East Coast veteran, but hung tough in going the distance and dropping a decision.

Santos returned six months later and gave a much better accounting of himself, rallying after dropping the opening round to John Castaneda to take the fight to the 31-year-old Contender Series alum. Backing him against the fence, Santos ripped home shots to the body and sealed the deal with a heavy knee that sent Castaneda tumbling to the canvas.

This weekend, the Chute Boxe Diego Lima representative returns to face off with Johnny Munoz Jr. in what should be another entertaining offering in the bantamweight division.

When Lins first touched down in the UFC, he did so as a member of the heavyweight division, logging back-to-back losses to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser in a six-week stretch during the early months of the pandemic.

He then had several fights cancelled for different reasons while making the transition back to the light heavyweight ranks, where he had spent the majority of his career. After nearly two years on the sidelines, Lins finally returned to action last April, registering a unanimous decision win over Marcin Prachnio to get things moving in the right direction. He promised a better performance in his next appearance and made good on that promise in February.

Lins needed just 49 seconds to dispatch divisional mainstay Ovince Saint Preux, stunning the former interim title challenger with the first right hand he threw and never allowing him off the ropes from there. He kept Saint Preux pressed against the fence and covering up, hammering home heavy hooks and mixing in thudding blows to the body before a reaching left connected as Saint Preux looked to scurry to open space, ending the fight.

While you never want to put too much stock into a quick victory, especially one that comes against an aging veteran who has struggled to find positive results of late, Lins unquestionably looked good in there with Saint Preux in February. Physically, he appeared to be in great shape, and his power clearly translated much better at 205 pounds than it did in there with the big boys.

Saturday is another opportunity for Lins to show this resurgence is real as he squares off with another veteran, Maxim Grishin, in a bout that was previously booked for last October. The Russian has split four trips into the Octagon, though it’d be understandable to give him a pass for his debut loss at heavyweight against Marcin Tybura, and he brings an abundance of experience into this pairing.

At light heavyweight, all it takes is a couple wins to start to get noticed, and putting away Saint Preux in a hurry certainly accomplished that feat for Lins. Should he push his run of success to three with a victory over Grishin on Saturday, the 37-year-old Brazilian could find himself sharing the Octagon with a ranked opponent next time out.