He might be best remembered as one of Greg Hardy‘s early MMA opponents, or for his own stint in the NFL. At UFC Vegas 99 on Saturday, however, Austen Lane was entering his fourth UFC fight in search of his first win, as he took on Olympian Robelis Despaigne.
Lane was technically 0-2 after an accidental eye poke in his first fight with Justin Tafa ended in a No Contest. Still, he was in must-win territory against Despaigne, who entered off the first loss of his MMA career, to Waldo Cortes-Acosta.
Lane circled on the outside early, with Despaigne patiently walking forward, looking for his moment, an opening to strike. Instead, he had a leg caught and wound up dumped on his back just seconds in, with Austen Lane settling into half guard and threatening to pass. Despaigne would at least reclaim full guard, but still had Lane on top, posturing up. To his credit, Despaigne, who medaled at the Olympics in Taekwondo, made his way back to his feet, but Lane remained tattooed to him, and eventually charged across the octagon chasing a takedown, Despaigne backpedaling but unable to escape.
The initial takedown attempt was fought off, but with a minute or so to go, Lane did secure the takedown, and went looking for an arm-triangle choke. With Lane unable to secure position, he switched to ground n’ pound, but Despaigne survived the round. While Lane was the underdog coming into the fight, someone apparently forgot to tell the American that.
Lane went back to that wrestling-heavy approach in round two, but didn’t find the same success that he had through the opening five minutes. Despaigne managed to keep the fight standing, stuffing an attempt by Lane to take him down along the fence. In the back half of the second frame, Despaigne connected upstairs, finally having a chance to get his hands going. In response, Lane drove forward, staying on the takedown attempt until he finally had Despaigne down – with Lane himself in mount.
Unfortunately for Lane, time had almost run down by the time they landed, and the fight went to a third and final round. There, Despaigne looked for a finish, keeping his right hand cocked, jabbing with his left. While the second had been closer, Lane had finished with the takedown; he went back to that well just over a minute into the third, again exploding forward, driving Despaigne into the cage. Despaigne stayed standing, and fired a knee at Laae, who regrouped and continued to pursue the attempt. Despaigne began dropping elbows to the side of the head, but as he did, Lane found the leverage he needed, hoisted Despaigne up, and planted him on his back.
Lane had half the round to work, with Robelis Despaigne nowhere near the fence. He had his guard closed, but wasn’t really doing much off his back, neither in terms of submissions or creating space to scramble. Lane didn’t make it look pretty, but he was effective enough through three rounds to leave little question as to who won the UFC Vegas 99 card opener. Lane would finish the fight on top, passing to mount and giving one last shot at finishing prior to the bell.
Official Result: Austen Lane def. Robelis Despaigne by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
