Athletes
Austen Lane Has Got His Good Luck Charm
Heavyweight Looks To Make It Two In A Row As He Faces Mario Pinto Inside UFC APEX On Saturday Night
“The sun never sets on a bada**.”
That’s what Austen Lane told his son as they sat down for Lane’s fight week interview with UFC.com. During his last fight in October, Lane brought his son, Ronin, with him for the first time during a fight week. Then, Lane went on to pick up a big win over Cuba’s Robelis Despaigne.
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“It's funny how there was so much pressure on me in that fight, but I was probably the calmest I've ever been and a lot of had to do with my son being there for the first time, watching me do my thing,” Lane said. “It meant everything to have him there, to get my hand raised. No one was counting on me to win that fight.”
Now, his good luck charm is back for another fight week as he prepares to face UFC debutant Mario Pinto inside the APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday night. After coming up short in his first few UFC fights, the heavyweight is looking to pick up his second win in a row.
For this camp, Lane switched things up a bit. In the past, Lane has spent his camps training in Las Vegas at Xtreme Couture, but when he was originally scheduled to meet Sean Sharaf, who also trains at Xtreme Couture, he packed up and went down to Coconut Creek, Florida to train at American Top Team. He believes the knowledge and skills he was able to pick up being around the athletes down there has only increased his level of confidence.
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Heading into this one, his confidence also stems from the experience he has as he enters his fourth UFC fight, compared Pinto, who will be making his first UFC walk come Saturday night.
“I think if I'm being realistic with myself, if I look at the Austen Lane from three or four years ago, I think Mario Pinto's got me easily,” Lane said. “But in those past three or four years, having gone through the adversity, having to essentially claw to hell in a lot of aspects in terms of my personal life and also my professional life and sitting here before you now, I'm nothing but confident.”
When you look at the odds, Lane is once again an underdog, but that isn’t something that bothers him; instead, it actually fuels him. He is eager to show the best version of himself and is confident in his preparations.
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“He's a great up and coming fighter,” Lane said. “I think in terms of size and stature, we're very comparable. I think in terms of his striking prowess, he’s a very patient fighter who waits for you to make a mistake and capitalizes on it. He's a very calm, collected fighter, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. So obviously, it's going to be a chess match out there and wherever the fight goes, I'm very comfortable with it.”
Lane’s game plan for what he has to do in order to get the victory is simple. Of course, he is focused on one fight at a time, but he understands in a division like heavyweight, if you string together three or four wins you could quickly make the climb up, so, for now, he is focused on starting that win streak on Saturday night.
“I’ve just got to be myself and that's kind of the beauty of this and that's why I'm so confident, because I know what I'm capable of,” Lane said. “Maybe some of the oddsmakers, maybe some of the UFC experts may not agree with me, but I know exactly what I have to do to win this fight. We have a great game plan. We had a great camp. I feel great going into this fight, so I just got to be myself, which is a beautiful thing.”
And he has his good luck charm with him once again. At the end of our interview, I asked if Ronin had any thoughts and, of course, he did.
“My dad is going to win.”
Simple as that.
UFC Fight Night: Kape vs Almabayev took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 1, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!