Someone’s block will get knocked off come October.
Robelis
Despaigne (5-1) is slated to trade leather against Austen Lane
(12-5) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in Oct. 19. The matchup was
first announced on Monday by Despaigne on Instagram, and later
confirmed by
multiple outlets. The two will tangle on a currently unnumbered
UFC Fight Night show that currently only has its headliner
announced between Michel
Pereira and Anthony
Hernandez.
2012 taekwondo Olympic bronze medalist Despaigne started his MMA
career with four consecutive first-round knockouts, combining for
5:13 of total cage time. His UFC debut in March went swimmingly, as
the Cuban crushed Josh
Parisian in 18 seconds at UFC 299. “The Bad Boy” was then
matched up against Waldo
Cortes-Acosta in a quick turnaround at UFC St. Louis in May,
but that did not go so well for him. Cortes-Acosta derailed the
6-foot-7 striker by outwrestling him to earn a unanimous decision
win.
Meanwhile, former NFL defensive end Lane is yet to pick up his
first UFC victory since getting signed from his second stint on
Dana White’s Contender Series. Lane’s
promotional debut went poorly, as he and Justin
Tafa’s match resulted in a no-contest when Lane inadvertently
poked Tafa’s eye. The two ran it back less than three months later,
and Tafa smashed him in 82 seconds. Lane returned in April, only to
get drummed out by Jhonata
Diniz. The two heavyweights in this affair celebrate 16
knockouts across their 17 victories, with all of Lane’s career
defeats coming due to strikes.