Luiz Philipe Lins Pimentel do Amaral (born August 17, 1985) is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, who formerly competed in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

. He won the 2018

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

heavyweight tournament.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Lins made his professional MMA debut in August 2005. For the first eight years of his career he fought exclusively in his native country Brazil, although he did take an extended break from MMA competition from 2006 to 2011. He remained undefeated during his time in Brazil, earning a record of seven wins and no losses. Before signing with Bellator, Lins was ranked by MMA news site Bloody Elbow as the second best Light Heavyweight prospect in 2012.

Bellator MMA

Lins made his North American and Bellator MMA debut in April 2014 at

Bellator 116 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight ...

. He faced Travis Clark and won via rear-naked choke submission in the first round. In the summer of 2014, Lins was announced as a participant in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament. He faced Austin Heidlage in the opening quarterfinals at Bellator 121 and won via submission in the first round. He faced Kelly Anundson in the semifinals and lost due to a knee injury. Lins was expected to return against

Francis Carmont Francis Carmont (born October 10, 1981) is a French professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, Carmont has competed for Bellator MMA, the UFC, and KSW. Mixed mart ...

at Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 on September 19, 2015, however pulled out of the bout due to illness. Lins faced Guilherme Viana at Bellator 159 on July 23, 2016. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Lins faced Kleber Silva at Bellator 168 on December 10, 2016. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. Lins faced Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 182 on August 25, 2017. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. On February 20, 2018 it was announced that Bellator had released Lins from the promotion.

Professional Fighters League

In the fall of 2018, Lins entered the PFL Heavyweight tournament. At PFL 8 on October 5, 2018, he defeated Caio Alencar by guillotine choke submission in the quarterfinal round and then defeated

Jared Rosholt Jared Rosholt is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 2011 to 2019, Rosholt competed for the UFC, Titan FC, Professional Fighters League, and Legacy FC. He is the y ...

by TKO in the semifinal round. Lins faced Josh Copeland in the finals at PFL 11 on December 31, 2018. He won the fight via technical knockout in the fourth round to win the PFL Heavyweight Tournament and earn the $1 million cash prize. Lins was expected to defend his championship in the second season of PFL, but had to withdraw from the whole season due to an injury.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Lins was scheduled to make his UFC debut against former UFC Heavyweight Champion,

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (, born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist and actor. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he competed in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and holds th ...

on May 2, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Weidman. However, on April 9,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and rescheduled to May 13, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Lins faced Tanner Boser on June 27, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker. He lost the fight via knockout in round one. Lins was scheduled to face Don'Tale Mayes on November 7, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira. However, on October 14, it was announced that Lins had a knee injury and pulled out of the event. Mayes is now expected to face Roque Martinez at this event. Lins was scheduled to face

Ben Rothwell Ben Rothwell (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer who competes as a Heavyweight and is the current BKFC Heavyweight World Champion. He most notably had a 17 bout stint in the Ultimate Fighting C ...

on March 13, 2021 at

UFC Fight Night 187 ''UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 187'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 45'' and ''UFC Vegas 21'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 13, 2021 at the UF ...

. However, during the week leading up to the event the bout was removed from the card due to undisclosed reasons. The pairing remained intact and the bout was rescheduled on May 8, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 24 ''UFC on ESPN: Rodriguez vs. Waterson'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 24'' and ''UFC Vegas 26'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 8, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, ...

. While Rothwell made weight without issue, Lins never showed up to the weigh-ins and withdrew from the bout due to an illness. The bout was rescheduled again for May 22, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt. However, yet again, Lins was pulled from the event for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by newcomer Askhar Mozharov. Lins was scheduled to face

Ovince Saint Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions of the UFC, challenging once for the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championshi ...

on November 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 197. However Saint Preux withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons and the bout was cancelled. Lins was scheduled to face Azamat Murzakanov on December 4, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 31 ''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Aldo'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 31'' and ''UFC Vegas 44'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 4, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Neva ...

. However, Lins withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by Jared Vanderaa. Lins faced

Marcin Prachnio Marcin Prachnio (born July 14, 1988) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Prachnio h ...

on April 23, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 205. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Lins was scheduled to face

Maxim Grishin Maxim Grishin (born 2 May 1984) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2008, he has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was the former M-1 ...

on October 1, 2022, at

UFC Fight Night 211 ''UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 211'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 69'' and ''UFC Vegas 61'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 1, 2022, at the UFC Apex ...

. Despite both men weighing in successfully, the bout was cancelled while the event was in progress due to an undisclosed medical issue. Lins was scheduled to face

, replacing

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Lars-Åke Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA career in ...

, on 10 December 2022, at

UFC 282 ''UFC 282: Błachowicz vs. Ankalaev'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It took place on December 10, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United S ...

. However, Lins subsequently withdrew from the bout due to an undisclosed reason. The match between Lins and

was rescheduled for February 18, 2023 at

UFC Fight Night 219 ''UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Blanchfield'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 219'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 77'', and ''UFC Vegas 69'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 18, 2023, at ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Lins faced

on June 3, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 46. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Lins was scheduled to face Ion Cuțelaba on October 7, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 229. However the bout was cancelled the day of the event for unknown reasons. Lins faced Ion Cuțelaba at on March 9, 2024, at UFC 299. He won by unanimous decision. Lins was released from the UFC on March 21, 2024.

Global Fight League

On December 11, 2024, it was announced that Lins was signed by Global Fight League. However, in April 2025, it was reported that all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely.

Championships and accomplishments

** 2018 PFL Heavyweight Championionship

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 18–5 , Ion Cuțelaba , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 299 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

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