Longtime Xtreme Couture coach Tim Lane is dead at 49.
Lane had not been seen since Wednesday, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, but was found dead today in the Mount Charleston area. Lane was reported missing on Thursday, with police officials stating that he “might have been in severe emotional distress and in need of medical assistance.”
A former ISKA world champion kickboxer, Lane had been a fixture at Xtreme Couture for more than a decade, teaching boxing and kickboxing classes at the famed Las Vegas academy.
With more than 40 years of experience in martial arts, Lane also headed up the gym’s branch of Merging Vets & Players, a non-profit organization designed to bring professional athletes and combat veterans together for peer-to-peer support and assisting a transition to new roles in the community.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officials have yet to reveal a cause of death, but Xtreme Couture gym manager Eric Nicksick posted an emotional video on Instagram indicating suicide and encouraging everyone to reach out their loved ones for support.
“This is another friend and a coach who’s taken his life,” Nicksick said. “This sh*t gets heavy. This sh*t’s too soon, and I don’t understand a lot of this stuff and the reasons why, but please make sure you tell your loved ones you love them and check in on people.”
Former Xtreme Couture coach Robert Follis took his own life in 2017.
Nicksick said a group of more than 30 people from Extreme Couture and Merging Vets & Players set out this morning to search the mountains where Lane’s car was found, but it was ultimately a search and rescue helicopter that located his body at the top of a tall mountain peak.
Lane was widely considered an incredibly positive influence in the gym but in January revealed via Facebook that he had been suffering mentally behind the scenes.
Special thank you to all students of Fridays boxing cardio for always showing up with positive vibes. Since quarantine I have had some low moments mentally but having you all smiling with me every Friday morning has helped me keep hope alive in my heart. Thanks again, remember, keep smiling
Nicksick’s message immediately received pledges of support and expressions of shock from notables in the MMA community, some of whom had known Lane for decades.
