Just days out from a grappling match with former UFC light heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational, Anthony Smith has his next fight booked.
“Lionheart” Smith (36-18) is set to face Ryan Spann (21-8) as part of UFC Singapore on August 23, 2023 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
MMA Junkie was first to report news of the booking on Friday.
For those hit with a sense of deja vu, Smith and Spann have fought before. Back in 2021, Anthony Smith submitted “Superman” Spann inside of a round care of a rear-naked choke.
Smith hasn’t won since, dropping back-to-back fights against Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker. Spann, meanwhile, won his next two bouts, finishing both Ion Cutelaba and Dominick Reyes, before falling to Nikita Krylov in his last outing.
The Krylov fight in particular had a hectic build-up. The fight was originally expected to headline the UFC’s February 25 Fight Night event, until it was scratched on the day of the fight due to a Krylov illness. It later landed on the UFC Las Vegas card two weeks later.
Smith is holding onto the #7 spot in the 205lb weight class, while Spann is ranked #10.
Headlined by featherweights Max Holloway and The Korean Zombie, this year’s UFC Singapore cards features the following reported match-ups:
- Max Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
- Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Chidi Njokuani
- JJ Aldrich vs. Liang Na
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Fernie Garcia
- Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
