Austen Lane battles Iwo Baraniewski at UFC London on March 21st in a light heavyweight bout, and with this being Lane’s first cut to 205 pounds, when asked what motivated his move down from heavyweight, Lane said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“With that comes a lot discipline in terms of my diet, in terms of my schedule, and my workload, man, but thankfully everything couldn’t be better right now… So what [it] stemmed [from] really is I had a pretty serious injury for a while that I was dealing with. After my last fight in Nashville, I had surgery on that injury and it took me out for a while.”
“I’m the type of dude that’s got to always be moving, got to always be doing something, and for the first time in a while I was left to my own devices of kind of sitting on the couch and not being able to move around like I want to…. That’s really the idea of how dropping down to 205 pound came to fruition.”
That feeling of being down on his luck, whilst wanting to be a better father and friend by showing up for them more, were driving forces in what ultimately led Lane to this light heavyweight move.
He was doubted by some in terms of how likely it was for the former NFL player to hit that 205-pound marker, but Lane embraced it as a challenge to overcome.
Austen Lane doesn’t want to get drawn into a firefight with Iwo Baraniewski at UFC London
Austen Lane broke down the machinations of this matchup set to transpire in the UK, and when expressing his thoughts on Iwo Baraniewski, Lane stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I’ve known who he was for a while because he fought a former teammate of mine in Ibo Aslan. Me and Ibo have gotten many, many rounds at Xtreme Couture in terms of sparring and everything. So I was intrigued by that fight when it was announced and I was intrigued to watch it. Obviously it was; I mean it was probably the most exciting first round that you’re ever going to see in the UFC right, for as long as it lasted.”
“When we talk about my opponent now and what I’ve seen on film and what he brings to the table, I mean this guy comes to bring the fight, right. I use the term brawler loosely because everyone wants to call him a brawler. Yeah, the dude likes to throw hands but he is also technical. I feel like when you use the term brawler it’s ‘ok, this guy has no skills and he’s just gonna hope and pray that he knocks you out.’ That’s not the case with him at all.”
“I think he’s a very gifted striker with power in both of his hands, you know, judo black belt can go the ground if he needs to, and is pretty comfortable there. But if he has it his way, he’s going to knock you out… It’s going to come down to me doing what I do well and not playing his game. I think whoever is gonna implement the better gameplan of playing their game will win this fight, simple as that.”
