This Saturday, on the undercard of the UFC on ABC 5 event in Jacksonville, Florida, former NFL defensive end Austen Lane will make his first walk to the Octagon for a heavyweight fight with New Zealand's Justin Tafa.

Lane has walked a long and interesting road to reach this point.

The 35-year-old (12-3) first entered the MMA limelight in 2018, when he was matched up with fellow NFL veteran Greg Hardy on Dana White's Contender Series, with a UFC contract on the line. It was the biggest moment of his four-fight career at that point, but he was knocked out in less than a minute.

The loss did not deter him.

"As far as the confidence after that loss, it didn't change anything," Lane said of his fight with Hardy. "Obviously, going into that fight, I was kind of billed as the hero, and he was the villain, and unfortunately, sometimes it's not like the movies or comic books. Sometimes the villains win."

"I made one mistake and it cost me everything," he added. "But you know, it's not about what happens, it's about how you respond to it."

After his loss to Hardy, who initially got a big push from the UFC but eventually flamed out after a trio of losses, Lane returned to the regional scene and set about the task of improving his skills and building up a solid enough win streak to again catch the attention of White and his team.

Life on the regional circuit is not easy, but he credits the "hard battles" he faced in that phase of his career with much of his growth as a mixed martial artist.

"When we talk about me as an amateur, a lot of my fights ended in a minute," Lane said. "So, while I got the cage experience, I really didn't get a lot of cage time per se."

"When we talk about the regional scene, whether it was Fury FC, whether it was LFA, we're talking about more talented individuals I'm going against. Obviously, I had to make sure all my basics were shored up. I had to make sure that my fundamentals were in place. Once those two things got in place, I relied on my power of athleticism with those fundamentals, and you saw a new fighter.

"Obviously I'm still evolving, and I'm still trying to reach that next chapter, but it taught me a lot."

Lane went 2-2 in his first four bouts after Contender Series, but after a TKO loss to Vernon Lewis in the LFA cage in 2020, he rattled off five straight victories—all stoppages. That run included a TKO win over former UFC talent Juan Adams and was ultimately enough to earn him another opportunity on White's show.

The second time around, things went much better, as he stopped Richard Jacobi with strikes with just under 30 seconds remaining in the first round.

When the card concluded, Lane was finally awarded a UFC contract by White himself—at 35 years old.

"This has always been the goal since day one," he said. "Whether I was going to be 45 years old with a grey beard, still trying to accomplish that goal, I was gonna see it through."

"It felt great," he added. "All that hard work felt justified, but at the same time, it was one of those moments when I didn't really celebrate too much because I knew once I got that contract, it's on the big show."

Tafa (6-3), a former rugby league player, is an imposing welcome to the big show. Despite having less pro fights than Lane, the 29-year-old has already fought six times in the UFC, going 3-3 against solid opposition.

It's a challenge Lane is taking very seriously.

"This is a guy who's coming to knock me out," he said. "It's definitely going to be a fight for the fans because we both like knocking people out. That's what he does, and that's what I do.

"From my standpoint—and I can't tell you the whole game plan, obviously—I've gotta be patient. I've gotta pick my shots and, when a mistake presents itself, capitalize on that mistake."

Saturday's card in Jacksonville will serve as a homecoming for Lane, as his NFL career began with the Jaguars. He was drafted by the team in 2010 and played with them for three years, before hopping from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Detroit Lions to the Chicago Bears. He announced his retirement from the sport in August 2015.

"To put all this hard work and dedication into this Saturday, in the town where they really supported me in my first career in the NFL, and now in MMA, it means everything," he said.

Lane has big goals for his time in the UFC.

He has his eyes on the promotion's coveted heavyweight title, which is currently owned by pound-for-pound king Jon Jones, and aims to establish himself as "one of the baddest people on the planet."

"If my eight-year-old son can go to class one way, and they say 'what does your dad do?' and he says 'my dad's one of the baddest people on the planet,' that would make me pretty happy," Lane said with a laugh.

It's not unusual for heavyweights to fight into their late 30s and early 40s and achieve good results. Still, at 35 years old, after years of competition in two grueling sports, Lane will likely need to move quickly if he hopes to achieve his goals.

He is aiming for a strong start this Saturday at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

"It's gonna be beautiful violence, man," Lane said. "That's all I'm gonna say."