Austen Lane and Vitor Petrino meet Saturday on the main card of UFC on ESPN 70 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Last event: 2-3
UFC main cards, 2025: 64-48-1
Austen Lane vs. Vitor Petrino UFC on ESPN 70 preview
Lane (13-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) earned his way into the UFC after a second appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, but has struggled to find success. Since arriving at the big show, he has gone 1-3 with one no contest. His lone victory was an admirable one, as he stifled dangerous knockout artist Robelis Despaigne by unanimous decision. However, Lane was knocked out in his next appearance by Mario Pinto, which took place in March. … Petrino (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has suffered the first two losses of his professional career in succession. The Brazilian comes in after a first-round submission loss to Anthony Smith and a third-round knockout loss against Dustin Jacoby. In his first fight of 2025, Petrino will look to get back on track, and return to the form of a fighter that impressed on DWCS and then won his first four fights in the UFC.
Austen Lane vs. Vitor Petrino UFC on ESPN 70 expert pick, prediction
Death, taxes, and the UFC matchmakers force-feeding us lower-level heavyweights on Fight Night main cards.
Although this might be one of the few pairings that the UFC can put together that are exempt from the “t-shirt in the pool division” criticisms of the current state of heavyweight, I’m not sure how high you should set your expectations for Vitor Petrino vs. Austen Lane.
Petrino looks the part and has shown the athletic potential that can translate to the fight game, whereas Lane is a completely different kind of athlete that, despite the relentless enthusiasm from the gen pop when it comes to football players, doesn’t seem to translate well to fighting at all.
That’s right, it may hurt (particularly American) fans to realize this, but sport-specific or general athleticism doesn’t guarantee you success when it comes to fighting, folks. I’m not even talking about technique over size or any of that nonsense, either.
This “sport,” particularly at heavyweight, comes down to whether or not you have that “it” in you and if you can use it to deal damage.
Lane has looked to have made real efforts into expanding his skills as a martial artist (which I greatly respect), but I still don’t believe Lane has “it” from a top-level fighting perspective.
I know that my home country has been almost conditioned to worship football players since grade school, but can we finally give the “he used to play football” hype narrative a rest, considering that, realistically, Brendan Schaub is sadly the best in this category? Please?
Anyway, the pick is Petrino by knockout in Round 2.
Austen Lane vs. Vitor Petrino UFC on ESPN 70 odds
The oddsmakers and the public are heavily favoring the Brazilian fighter, listing Petrino -650 and Lane +420 via FanDuel.
Austen Lane vs. Vitor Petrino UFC on ESPN 70 start time, how to watch
Lane and Petrino are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts live on ESPN and ESPN+.
