Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann – Preview & Matchup Analysis

UFC Fight Night 197: Smith vs. Spann is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 18, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. In one of the matchups on the fight card, Anthony “Lionheart” Smith will take on Ryan “Superman” Spann in the Light Heavyweight Bout. You can view the full UFC Fight Night 197 card.

In this post, we will break down Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann matchup. Let’s take look at the fighter’s ages, their height, records, reach, fight stats, and more below ⤵

The 35-year-old, Anthony Smith is coming in with a 35-16-0 record. Smith will be fighting for the first time since a win via KO/TKO against Jimmy Crute at UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 in April.

Spann, meanwhile, is coming off a KO/TKO win against Misha Cirkunov on April 24, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad and holds a 19-6-0 record.

Anthony Smith has an orthodox fighting stance with a 76″ reach. The 32-year-old, Ryan Spann is an orthodox fighter with a 79″ reach. An orthodox fighter stands with their left side forward and jabs with their left hand, the southpaw fighter is the opposite, southpaw stands with their right side forward and jabs with their right hand. In most cases, orthodox fighters are right-handed, if you are left-handed, then you fight southpaw.

Anthony Smith:
→ Smith’s striking accuracy is 47%.
→ Smith lands 3.00 significant strikes per minute.
→ Smith’s takedown accuracy is 28%.
→ Smith’s takedown average is 0.47 per 15 minutes.
→ Smith’s takedown defense is 47%.

Smith comes in with 47% striking accuracy, typically landing about 3.00 significant strikes every minute. On the other side, Spann fires at 45% accuracy, landing about 3.55 significant strikes per minute. Anthony Smith also has a 28% takedown accuracy and on average gets around 0.47 takedowns every 15 minutes, compared to Spann’s 1.72 takedowns and 60% takedown accuracy.

Ryan Spann:
→ Spann’s striking accuracy is 45%.
→ Spann lands 3.55 significant strikes per minute.
→ Spann’s takedown accuracy is 41%.
→ Spann’s takedown average is 1.72 per 15 minutes.
→ Spann’s takedown defense is 60%.

Ryan spent on average 5:28 minutes in the Octagon and Anthony has an average fight time of 9:48 minutes.

This looks like an interesting matchup, at least on paper. UFC Fight Night 197 is live in , who do you think will win, Anthony or Ryan? Sound off in the comments.

You can view the scheduled UFC Fight Night 197 fight card, upcoming UFC schedule 2021, and latest MMA news.