Austen Lane wasn’t surprised when he got offered to fight Jhonata Diniz at UFC Vegas 91.
Lane is coming off a knockout loss to Justin Tafa back in September at UFC 293, this after their no-contest result. Following the loss, Lane wanted to return much sooner as he wanted to be as active as possible.
“Probably a little later than what I thought it would be, I want to stay active, I want to stay busy. Probably later than I wanted, but I’m happy to get a matchup,” Lane said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.
Lane is set to return at UFC Vegas 91 against Jhonata Diniz who picked up an impressive knockout win on the Contender Series. After he lost to Tafa, Lane thought this fight may happen next as he knows it will be a fan-friendly striking match.
“I knew of him because I watched the Contender Series, I remember the fight that he had when he got his UFC contract, looking him up, a Glory kickboxer, a decorated kickboxer. Some would call me a striker as well so the UFC brass knew what they were doing when they made this fight,” Lane said.
Entering the fight at UFC Vegas 91, Austen Lane is the betting underdog, but he believes he has more tools to win. Lane knows Jhonata Diniz is likely a better pure kickboxer but in MMA, Lane has confidence he will get his hand raised in a violent fight.
“He’s going to try and kickbox me and I’m going to try and fight him. That is what it is going to be, I think I’m the better fighter, he may have me in kickboxing and that’s cool, but we are wearing four-ounce gloves,” Lane said. “You can do a lot more things in an MMA cage than you can do in a kickboxing ring. That has all been talked about in training camp, and I think I have the ability to take the fight wherever I want it to go…
“It can play out a lot of ways, for me personally it’s about staying patient and not looking for that one knockout shot. It’s about being calm and collected and…
