Anthony Smith continued his winning streak at UFC Vegas 37, submitting Ryan Spann inside the first round in the main event.
Anthony Smith simply refuses to go away. The former UFC light heavyweight title challenger has suffered his share of setbacks in recent years, but still rode a two-fight win streak into the UFC Vegas 37 main event on Saturday.
Opposite “Lionheart” in Vegas was “Superman,” a.k.a. Ryan Spann. A former LFA light heavyweight champion, Spann was looking for a signature victory to help in breakthrough into the upper echelon of the 205lb division.
Smith did a good job of trying to chop the larger Spann down early in the fight with some leg kicks. Spann however quickly blitzed in with a nice right hand and then looked to clinch, after breaking the clinch Spann looked for a big overhand right by Smith countered with one of his own that sent Spann crashing to the mat. Smith jumped on with some ground and pound but was able to get back to his feet after a failed armbar attempt by Smith, but Spann soon was knocked down again. Spann soon gave up his back, and Smith was able to lock in the rear-naked-choke submission to get the victory.
Anthony Smith’s career comeback continues to be insane, and now he’s in a position to where he needs to get a big fight next, and it could potentially be a rematch with Alexander Rakic, who Smith called out in the post-fight interview.
Official Result: Anthony Smith def. Ryan Spann via submission (rear-naked choke) 3:47 of Round One.
