Austen Lane will be changing weight classes at UFC London on Saturday.
Lane is set to drop down to light heavyweight after competing at heavyweight in his UFC tenure. He’s set to take on Iwo Baraniewski in an intriguing fight, and the thought process of dropping down to light heavyweight was something Lane thought of as he was rehabbing from surgery.
“It’s not something I thought about for a while,” Lane said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “Basically, what happened is I had to have surgery after my last fight, and I was sidelined for a little bit. In doing that, and knowing who I am as a person, I have to work towards something. If I can’t work towards something, I get in my own head. When I was on the shelf, it started out just dropping a few pounds and changing my diet around. It then turned into going into making 205, and lo and behold, it hasn’t been that hard of a journey so far.”
In his light heavyweight debut, Lane will go to England to take on Baraniewski in what should be a fun fight for however long it lasts. It’s also something Lane is looking forward to.
“It is kind of what they offered, but I’m all for it,” Lane said. “It’s a cool venue, and the crowd will be electric. Any time you can travel the world and do that for work, why not? I would rather fight in front of a crowd than the Apex.”
Given that Lane is dropping down to light heavyweight, he has changed some of his training. He’s also gotten in work with former opponent Robelis Despaigne, who is a good look as Iwo Baraniewski is a KO artist.
Austen Lane is excited to show off new skills at UFC London
“That is someone I have been sparring with, too. Robelis is a great dude,” Lane said. “It was good to get work with him. With Robelis, it’s based on his size and trying to close the distance, and he has a lethal right hand. With my opponent here, he likes his right hand, but in terms of his size and stature, he isn’t a freak of nature. He has a heart on him, a chin on him, that’s the difference, and he’s a Judo black belt.”
Heading into UFC London, Austen Lane is coming off back-to-back losses, so he knows he could be cut with a loss. However, he isn’t worried about that as he believes he will pull off the upset on Saturday.
“I understand that I can be cut at any time,” Lane said. “I understand what is at stake; the pressure in everything is nothing new to me. This is an experience to go across the world and fight in front of great fans. It’s a brand new playground to have fun in. … Speed’s gone up, and movement has gone up, and power is still there. It’s going to play out how it’s going to play out. We have a great game plan put in place, and you are going to see some things that you haven’t seen before from me.”
If Lane can defeat Baraniewski, he hopes it sets up an active 2026 in his new weight class.
“My goal is March 21 to make my first appearance at light heavyweight and get my hand raised, and then go from there. But, I would love to be active this year,” Lane concluded.
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