Welcome to another MMA Squared.

Perhaps UFC Lincoln is the best we can hope for in the coming Endeavor / ESPN television years: action fights, personal stakes, and legit prospects. The card lacks only star power. Three fights into his UFC run, Justin Gaethje risks becoming a stepping stone for the lankiest lightweight, James Vick.

Angela “The Unmarketable” Hill is going to come out here with a podcast, cosplay, and to throw hands. The UFC still won’t know how to promote her, but a win here should find her with top 10 opponent next.

Michael Johnson needs a win. Always exciting, with his back is against the wall, the UFC may be using his name to build momentum for Andre Fili, who’s in the midst of a win streak. Both men are reliable action fighters so this might get ugly because the stakes are high.

One thing I like is how the UFC is booking Mickey Gall and Eryk Anders. Both have serious potential and are coming off of their first professional losses. Bringing them along slowly against lower ranked competition is the kind of ‘bounce back’ matchup the UFC could do more often

And Jake Ellenberger is fighting Bryan Barberena. It’s hard to say who this is supposed to help, but it’s Barberena’s chance to bag a name brand opponent after valiantly slaying Sage Northcutt all those years ago.

MMA Squared is brought to you by COMBAT WOMBAT, an expression of marsupial violence known... somewhere. Wombat would like to express its condolences to the MMA Vivisection. In honor of the show, here is a wombat in surgical garb, about to perform an autopsy.

As always, this is Chris @RiniMMA. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you next week.