MMA veteran Stuart Austin helped his fighter steal the show at UFC Vegas 103.
9-0 heavyweight prospect Mario Pinto looked overwhelmed during the first round of his UFC career.
Austen Lane was able to dictate for five minutes at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
However, the ex-NFL star got brutally knocked out after some great corner work between rounds at UFC Vegas 103.
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Mario Pinto’s perfect corner advice
Pinto branded his UFC debut performance ‘absolutely trash‘ during his post-fight press conference.
Luckily for him, sound corner advice turned a bad night at the office into a $50,000 bonus.
Pinto’s coach helped him shrug off his Octagon jitters before telling him to throw the combination that ultimately closed the show.
“Listen, you are f—— waiting too much,” Austin said.
“Slow your breathing down. When you wait outside of range, he can build up and swing at you.
“I know you’re stressed. I know it’s a debut. I know it’s all too much, but it’s just a fight.
“The most important thing is you’ve got to jab. You’ve got to double jab your way in and throw that two.”
About 40 seconds later, Pinto threw two jabs and a massive overhand right to put Lane to sleep.
Who is Stuart Austin?
Stuart Austin is a 36-year-old English heavyweight with an MMA record of 18-8.
‘He-man’ is famously the only fighter with a legitimate win over interim UFC champion Tom Aspinall.
The man poised to fight Jon Jones later this year has technically suffered three losses during his career – but one of them came via an unjust disqualification and another was due to a knee injury he suffered against Curtis Blaydes, who he later KO’d in 60 seconds.
Aspinall got his first and only true taste of defeat when he fought Austin at BAMMA 21 in June 2015.
The veteran caught his 3-0 opponent in a heel hook submission that forced him to tap out.
Since then, Austin has suffered high-profile defeats against UFC star Johnny Walker and PFL heavyweight Renan Fereira, who got quickly knocked out by Francis Ngannou when he returned to MMA last October.
Austin is currently on a three-fight win streak – but he hasn’t fought since OKTAGON 52 in January 2024.
Whatever happens next, it seems he’s got a very bright future in coaching after helping Pinto get a massive win at UFC Vegas 103.