Ion Cutelaba Ethnicity/Nationality: Where Is the UFC Light Heavyweight From?

UFC 299 is promising to be an intriguing card. Headlined by Sean O’Malley‘s rematch with Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, and Benoit Saint-Denis’ potentially career-defining bout with #3 ranked Dustin Poirier followed by Petr Yan’s crucial matchup with Song Yadong among other great fights, the card is stacked with great matchups.

One of these will be the light heavyweight bout between Ion Cutebala and Philipe Lins on the early prelims for the Miami, Florida card. As he sets up for his UFC 299 clash against Lins, let us take a look at Cutebala’s background.

Ion Cutelaba’s background

Ion Cutelaba started his martial arts journey as a young teen when he started training in Greco-Roman wrestling in his hometown of Chisinau, the capital of the tiny landlocked Eastern European Republic of Moldova.

While Moldova does not have the well-developed MMA infrastructure like the USA, Cutelaba’s impressive knockout power set him apart from other fighters straight away. ‘The Hulk’ made his mixed martial arts debut in 2012 and went on to compile an impressive 10-1 record (the sole loss came as a result of disqualification due to illegal strikes)  in the European MMA scene before he was signed to the UFC.

However, the Moldovan has had a rocky time in the UFC, having lost eight fights and won only six since joining the promotion in 2016. Despite this, the unranked Moldovan has been a regular fixture of the UFC’s 205-pound division due to his exciting, kill-or-be-killed fighting style. And his clash against Lins is just one of the many great fights on UFC 299.

But UFC 299 doesn’t just ensure Lins’ future, it also determines what Dustin Poirier and Kevin Holland’s future in the sports.

UFC 299 win key for Poirier and Holland’s future

Dustin Poirier will be making his thirtieth appearance in the UFC against Benoit Saint-Denis, who will be making his seventh. Whoever wins their bout will be in the lightweight title mix and ‘BSD’ will join Arman Tsarukyan as the next generation of top lightweight champions. This will essentially be Poirier’s first attempt at climbing the ladder back to championship gold since his loss to Michael Chandler last year.

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Having lost two of his last three fights, the 35-year-old has admitted that retirement is a real possibility. “Every fight could be it,” the former interim champion said in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, welterweight veteran Kevin Holland, on a two-fight skid, will face MMA star Michael ‘Venom’ Page on the latter’s UFC debut and will have the chance to bounce back from his losses if he can get through the ‘MVP’.

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