Austen Douglas Lane (born November 9, 1987) is an American

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 ...

and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

currently competing in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

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 ( ...

(UFC). He was selected by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in the fifth round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Murray State Racers. He was also a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Lane grew up in Iola, Wisconsin. Lane made 14.5 sacks on defense and caught 31 passes for 717 yards and 13 touchdowns on offense his senior year at Iola-Scandinavia High School. He earned All-conference and All-region honors for defense and offense and was selected All-state as a defensive end and honorable mention All-state as a wide receiver. Additionally, he had five blocked punts, 77 solo tackles, 61 assisted tackles and four fumble recoveries his senior year. He also earned two letters as a member of the Thunderbirds' basketball team and was named Second-team All-conference in 2004–05.

College career

Lane started 40 of 43 games at Murray State of the

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

. He holds school records with 29 sacks and 55 tackles for loss. Following his senior year, he was named as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in FCS football. He was named as a FCS first-team All-American by the Associated Press and was selected as the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

Defensive Player of the Year. In 2009 Lane was second in the FCS with 11.0 sacks and third in the FCS with 19.5 tackles-for-loss after leading the OVC in sacks and TFL. He also ended the year with intercepting a pass and returning it 21 yards for a touchdown in a victory over Austin Peay. For the season in 11 games, he had 64 total tackles, 32 solo stops, 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 1 interception for 21 yards and 1 touchdown, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 8 quarterback hurries, 2 pass breakups. The previous season he played in all 12 games and recorded 63 tackles, ranked second in the country with 22 tackles-for-loss and set MSU single-season record with 12 sacks. In 2007 Lane started 10 games at defensive end and led all defensive linemen with 48 stops, including 28 solo stops. In 2006 as a true freshman he played in 10 games, making 34 tackles, including 11 solo stops. He also had 3.5 tackles for a loss, finished with 2.5 sacks and had one pass break-up and blocked two kicks.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Following his senior season at Murray State, Lane was invited to participate in the 2010 Senior Bowl as a member of the North roster. He scored a touchdown off a fumble recovery in the second quarter and the North squad went on to win the game over the South 31–13. Lane was projected to be drafted in the third round of the

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Lane was selected by the

in the fifth round (153rd overall) in the

. He was reunited with his college coach Matt Griffin, who had previously been hired by the Jaguars as an offensive assistant. Lane was signed to a contract on July 14, 2010. The deal was for four-years and $1.974 million, including a $184,190 signing bonus. He was released on June 13, 2013. He wrote about the experience on ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

s website.

Kansas City Chiefs

He was claimed off waivers by the

on June 14, 2013.

Detroit Lions

Lane was signed by the

on November 5, 2013, but was cut on November 27.

Chicago Bears

Lane was signed by the

on February 17, 2014, but was released on August 30. He re-signed in December 2014.

Retirement

On August 3, 2015, Lane announced his retirement.

Mixed martial arts career

Amateur career

In November 2015, Lane made his amateur MMA debut, in which he defeated Micah Cross by knockout in the first round. Over the next year, Lane increased his amateur MMA record to 5 wins against no losses with all of his wins coming via knockout.

Professional career

Lane made his professional MMA debut in April 2017. He won his debut via knockout in the first round. Over the following year and into 2018, Lane fought three more times and improved his professional MMA record to 4 wins against no losses with again all of his wins coming via knockout. In April 2018, it was announced that Lane would face fellow former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy at Dana White's Contender Series 9 on June 12. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Lane returned to the regional MMA circuit to gain more experience, amassing a record of 7 wins and 2 losses over the next four years. This earned him a second shot on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022. He faced Richard Jacobi on September 20, 2022. He won the fight via TKO in the first round and was awarded a UFC contract.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Lane was scheduled to face Junior Tafa on February 11, 2023 at UFC 284. However, he withdrew from the bout due to undisclosed reasons. Lane faced Justin Tafa on June 24, 2023 at UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria. Less than thirty seconds into the bout, Lane eyepoked Tafa who was unable to continue, resulting in a no contest. The pair had a rematch on September 10, 2023 at UFC 293. Lane lost the fight via knockout in round one. Lane faced Jhonata Diniz on April 27, 2024, at UFC on ESPN 55. He lost the fight by knockout in the second round. Lane faced Robelis Despaigne on October 19, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 245. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Lane faced promotional newcomer Mário Pinto on March 1, 2025 at UFC Fight Night 253. He lost the fight by knockout in the second round. Lane is scheduled to face Vitor Petrino on July 12, 2025, at UFC on ESPN 70.

Championships and accomplishments

*Fury Fighting Championship **FFC Heavyweight Championship (One time) *Combat Night **CN Heavyweight Championship (One time) *Warfare MMA **Warfare FC Heavyweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Mário Pinto , KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Almabayev , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:39 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Rashaun Jackson , KO (punch) , Combat Night: Clash of the Titans 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:31 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 , Tebaris Gordon , TKO (punches) , Warfare MMA 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 , Frank Tate , TKO (punches) , Island Fights 50 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:41 ,

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, United States ,

Personal life

In 2011, Lane was featured on the cover of Eastbay, the popular sporting goods catalog. Lane gained notoriety in June 2012 after posting a fake workout routine on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Lane wrote some columns for ''Monday Morning Quarterback'' on the website of ''

''.

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bioMurray State Racers football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Austen Living people 1987 births People from Iola, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American football defensive ends Murray State Racers football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Kansas City Chiefs players Detroit Lions players Chicago Bears players American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Illinois