HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Julian Lane has been forever immortalized into the MMA meme culture – and it wasn’t for anything good.
The MMA fighter now turned bare-knuckle boxer is arguably responsible for one of the most infamous scenes in the history of “The Ultimate Fighter” – the UFC’s reality T.V. show. On season 16 of TUF back in 2012, a 24-year-old Lane had a few drinks followed by an emotional meltdown after he was eliminated from the show early in the tournament.
Lane got aggressive and tried to fight several of the cast members on the show. Luckily, his teammates managed to stop the situation from escalating before he burst into tears, while still being very angry. That’s when he dropped the infamous, “Let me bang, bro,” line on his teammate who was holding him back.
The scene went viral online and gathered millions of views. It was a rough moment in Lane’s life for the world to see.
“It was a bad dream,” Lane told MMA Junkie. “It was a nightmare for many years of my life and then it finally actually turned into my life. It was something that I couldn’t control. Once it happened, it happened. You can’t go back and erase the past. You just have to live in the present and make the best of it and that’s what I’m doing, baby.”
Today, Lane has “Let me bang” tattooed on his leg. He also has t-shirts and it’s become a slogan for his fighting career. Although it wasn’t his best moment, Lane managed to make the best of the situation and not let it ruin his career.
“I was definitely embarrassed,” Lane said. “I wasn’t as matured as I am now. I’m not saying I’m too mature, but I definitely have self-control and that’s a big part of life. To have emotional control, which is self-control. But yeah, man, I would say a little bit embarrassed and I was ashamed of it.
“But like I said, there’s many people who are ashamed of things they’ve done in life and they just hide it well. I’m not good at hiding because I’m always on T.V. and always exposed to the internet. I speak for the people who don’t speak up and I help people open up. That’s what motivates me, to help others to be more open.”
Lane returns to action this Saturday night. He welcomes UFC veteran Mike Perry to the bare-knuckle boxing world, as the two are scheduled to fight in a middleweight bout that serves as the main event of Knuckle Mania 2.
Julian Lane explains why he was embarrassed by infamous ‘Let me bang’ TUF scene
