Misha Cirkunov will be taking on Ryan Spann in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 21. Both men have incredible jiujitsu skills, both guys being black belts in jiujitsu. UFC Vegas 21 will also decide which fighter will move into the top ten of the division. Spann is currently ranked number 13 at light heavyweight. While his opponent, Misha Cirkunov, is ranked number 11.
Misha Cirkunov
Misha Cirkunov has a professional MMA record of 15-5 and a UFC record of 6-3. Nine of his 15 wins are by submission and five of those nine submissions were inside the UFC octagon. He has been finished in 100% of his losses. He has been submitted twice in his career but has not been submitted since 2012. Misha Cirkunov has wins over guys like Jimmy Crute, Nikita Krylov, and Ion Cutelaba. His three UFC losses were all knockout losses to Johnny Walker, Glover Teixeira, and Volkan Oezdemir. Misha Cirkunov trains out of Xtreme Couture in Ontario, Canada where he is also an MMA coach for the gym.
Ryan Spann
Spann will come into UFC Vegas 21 with a four-and-a-half-inch reach advantage and a two-inch height advantage. He has a professional MMA record of 18-6. Going 4-1 inside the UFC octagon. His only UFC loss was his most recent fight where he was knocked out by Johnny Walker. 11 of Spann’s 18 wins are submissions and three of his six losses are by knockout. The only submission loss of his career was against Robert Drysdale in 2016 for the LFA light heavyweight championship. He holds two world titles, a middleweight title for Hero FC in 2014 and a light heavyweight title for LFA in 2018.
He has wins over Sam Alvey, Devin Clark, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the UFC. Spann was able to submit Emiliano Sordi on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018 to earn his UFC contract. Prior to his time with the UFC, he had already fought guys like Alex Nicholson, Karl Roberson, and Trevin Giles.
The Match-up
This fight will likely go one of two ways. The first option is both men decided to find out who the better jiujitsu practitioner is. In that scenario we see beautiful jiujitsu work for as long as the fight goes on. The other option is both men will be hesitant to take the fight to the ground in fear of the other’s jiujitsu skills. In this scenario, we will see these men stand and trade with each other. Spann has a pretty good side advantage so it looks like he will have a slight advantage in the standup. Although both men hit very hard. It would not be surprising to see either man get a flash knockout at UFC Vegas 21.
UFC Vegas 21 Fight Card
Main Card:
- Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Ryan Spann
- Dan Ige vs. Gavin Tucker
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Davey Grant
- Manel Kape vs. Matheus Nicolau
- Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart
Preliminary Card:
- Angela Hill vs. Ashley Yoder
- Charles Jourdain vs. Marcelo Rojo
- Rani Yahya vs. Ray Rodriguez
- Nasrat Haqparast vs. Rafa Garcia
- Courtney Casey vs. JJ Aldrich
- Gloria De Paula vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Matthew Smelsberger vs. Jason Witt
UFC Vegas 21 will be shown exclusively on ESPN+. This event will take place on Saturday, March 13th. With the prelims starting at 5:00 pm ET and the main card starting at 8:00 pm ET.
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