Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann - UFC Vegas 37 Preview

Anthony Smith will be taking on former LFA light heavyweight champion, Ryan Spann in the main event of UFC Vegas 37. Smith will come into this fight ranked number six while Spann is ranked number 11 in the UFC light heavyweight division. Both men come into this fight looking to get a win and move one step closer to a title shot.

Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith has a professional MMA record of 35-16 and a UFC record of 10-5. Smith made his debut in the light heavyweight division in 2018 with a knockout win over Rashad Evans. Since then he has gone 6-3 in the 205lb weight division. Even fighting for the title once against Jon Jones back in 2019. Smith is currently on a two-fight winning streak with a submission win over Devin Clark and a TKO victory over Jimmy Crute. He has finished the fight in 32 of his 25 career victories. Nine of his 16 losses are by knockout.

Anthony Smith has a black belt in BJJ and trains at Factory X with Marc Montoya. Smith has won middleweight titles in Cage Fury Fighting Championship and Victory Fighting Championships. He has fought for Bellator in his past and also spent some time with Strikeforce back in 2011. He also had one fight with the UFC in 2013 just before his stint with Bellator.

Ryan Spann

Ryan Spann will come into this fight with a professional MMA record of 19-6. He fought twice on Dana White’s Contender Series. Once in 2017 when he was knocked out by Karl Roberson and once in 2018 when he won his contract by submitting Emiliano Sordi. Since joining the UFC, Spann has gone 5-1 only losing to Johnny Walker in September 2020. He has key UFC wins over Misha Cirkunov, Sam Alvey, Devin Clark, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Spann is a blue belt in BJJ and trains at Fortis MMA in Beaumont, Texas. He is a former LFA light heavyweight title and a former Hero FC middleweight champion. 11 of Spann’s 19 wins are by submission and five of those wins have been knockouts. Out of his six losses, three of them are by knockout and he was only submitted once.

Fight Breakdown

Both men come into this fight as very well-rounded fighters. Smith has a black belt in BJJ and has always been known to have a tough chin. Lionheart has been in some wars and has only been knocked out once in his time with the UFC.

Spann on the other hand will come into this fight with a slight size advantage. He will also have the power advantage. Spann will likely look to keep the fight standing and try to turn this fight into a brawl. Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann are matched very well and this fight could go either way depending on who comes in with the right gameplan.