Getty Image / Jason O Watson
As the UFC has become more popular around the US, it has become somewhat common for former football players to make their way to the organization.
Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter was loaded with former NFL players.
Eryk Anders has been competing in the UFC for almost 6 years after he was one of the heroes in Alabama’s national title win over Texas back in 2009.
The UFC tried to make Greg Hardy a star in the organization after his NFL career came to an end, but those efforts didn’t work out and he was last seen being knocked out in BKFC.
Today they revealed that another former NFL player would be joining the UFC’s ranks.
According to MMA Junkie’s Nolan King, Austen Lane is scheduled to fight Justin Tafa at UFC Jacksonville on June 24th.
Austen Lane (12-3) vs. Justin Tafa (6-3) has been added to #UFCJacksonville, per promotion. June 24.
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) May 2, 2023
Austen Lane was a 5th-round pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2010 and started 9 games for them as a rookie, but was retired by 2015.
Interestingly, Lane was previously scheduled to fight Tafa’s brother, Junior Tafa, earlier in the year, but had to withdraw from the fight.
Lane finally gets to make his debut after getting very close on multiple other occasions. There was that withdrawal against and he also had a shot on the Tuesday Night Contender Series way back in 2018, but fell short against Greg Hardy.
He has since worked his way back with a 5-fight win streak that included a win over former UFC fighter Juan Adams and earned him another shot on the Contender Series. The second time around, Lane didn’t waste the opportunity.
He took on Richard Jacobi back in September and won by 1st round TKO.
Now he takes on Justin Tafa, who is coming off of consecutive knockouts of his own over Harry Hunsucker and Parker Porter.
The fight should be an exciting one between two heavyweight strikers with heavy hands and plenty of knockouts on their records.