It's been more than a decade since Austen Lane played a home game in Jacksonville.
The former Jaguars defensive end will return to action in Duval on Saturday. This time around, however, he'll be making his official Ultimate Fighting Championship debut when he toes the line with Justin Tafa in a heavyweight scrap on UFC on ABC 5.
"To fight in Jacksonville, where my book really started here, playing football and now another sport, it's awesome," Lane said this week at his pre-fight news conference.
Lane (12-3) and Tafa (6-3) will fight as part of the main card on ABC, which begins at 3 p.m. ET at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
A 2010 NFL Draft fifth-round pick of the Jaguars, Lane played with Jacksonville from 2010-2012, playing in 30 games with 17 starts during his time. He played his final NFL snap for the Detroit Lions in 2013.
In his return to Duval, Lane would welcome any kind of home field -- or home cage, as it were -- advantage Saturday.
"I mean, I think that energy is going to be contagious, right? It's only going to help," Lane, 35, said. "I think if you've seen some of the past UFC events where the host country, like, for instance, Canada, they just had an event, and those Canadian fighters did really well. Yeah, I think having the crowd on your side is definitely a good thing to have."
Whether or not any former Jaguars teammates show up, Lane is uncertain. It's been a while since he put on a pair of shoulder pads, after all.
"There might be a couple coming," Lane said. "I assume there will probably be some current Jaguars coming, as well. But it's wild, man, like from when I… I got cut back in 2012 until now. I don't think anybody from my team in 2012 is still on the roster. There's always a turnover in the NFL, so I'm still friends with some of the guys that are currently on the team, so maybe they're going to pull up. We'll see."
Lane's road to Saturday has been a long and arduous one, having made his professional mixed martial arts debut in April of 2017.
In September of 2022, Lane earned a technical knockout of Richard Jacobi on the Dana White Contender Series to garner a UFC contract. Poised to make his UFC debut in February, Lane was sidelined when he tore his biceps off the bone in January. Slowed but not stopped, Lane attacked rehab in force.
"When I was given my rehab plan, it was supposed to be once a day," Lane said. "I was doing it four times a day, seven days a week, just because that's who I am. I have to do that, man. If I'm not moving my body, if I'm not healing, I drive myself crazy, so I'm not one for silver linings or finding the better things in life, but I think that hard work got me to this point right now, so I'm thankful for that."
Growing up, Lane played hockey. However, it was the gridiron and now the octagon that have made him a true dual-sport professional athlete.
Of his 12 career MMA pro wins, Lane has triumphed each and every time via stoppage -- with 11 via technical knockout/KO. Though he hasn't fought in nearly a year, Lane still has the momentum of a five-fight winning streak entering his showdown with Tafa, a 29-year-old who has won all of his fights via KO.
Beyond the storylines of his return to Duval and making his UFC debut on network television, Lane's bout with Tafa promises fireworks.
Said Lane: "It's going to be controlled chaos and beautiful violence."
