Luis Henrique moved down from heavyweight to fight Ryan Spann at UFC Sao Paulo, but the size advantage didn’t go as well as he’d hoped.
Luis Henrique needed a change, after losing his last two bouts at heavyweight against the likes of Marcin Tybura and Arjan Bhullar. With that in mind, on Saturday, he moved down to light heavyweight. His first task at 205 pounds was a fight against UFC newcomer Ryan Spann at UFC Sao Paulo. After Brazilian fighters were met with nothing but success to start the night, Henrique’s experiment flipped the script.
Spann came out looking quick on the feet, and Henrique came in executing a grappling-type game plan in round one. Henrique took Spann down and looked to land ground and pound, however he couldn’t keep his opponent down. Spann got up, and Henrique dove in for another takedown, but got caught in a guillotine that looked like it was in. The Brazilian managed to get out of it before returning to the feet, however. From there, Henrique secured another takedown, ending the round on top.
In the second round Henrique got the takedown once again, and looked for the guillotine. However Spann survived the submission attempt, coming near the end of the round, and ended up on top. Spann then ended the round with some giant elbows that had Henrique walking slowly and unsteadily back to his corner between rounds.
The third turned out to be more of a back and forth round, as Henrique got the takedown once again to start the round. However Spann then reversed position not long afterwards, and got back on top. Spann would then spend almost the entire round there, earning precious minutes in top control. At the end of the third Henrique finally escaped and got back up, and the two ended the round trading in the center.
Spann gets it done in his Octagon debut!@Superman_Spann #UFCSP pic.twitter.com/OOox4JVbTT
— UFC (@ufc) September 23, 2018
Up to that point, UFC Sao Paulo had been a glowing success for Brazilian fighters, who’d won their first six fights of the evening. Spann, however, proved to be the wrench in the works, ending the shutout with a unanimous decision win.
Ryan Spann def. Luis Henrique by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
