By The Numbers: Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann

Brian KnappSep 14, 2021


Anthony Smith will likely have to walk through considerable fire to avoid being leapfrogged in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division.

The Factory X standout will lock horns with former Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder Ryan Spann in the UFC Fight Night 192 headliner this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Smith enters the Octagon on a modest two-fight winning streak. He last appeared at UFC 261, where he forced a first-round doctor stoppage against Jimmy Crute on April 24. Spann, meanwhile, has rattled off nine victories across his past 10 outings. The Fortis MMA rep last competed on March 13, when he buried Misha Cirkunov with punches just 71 seconds into their UFC Fight Night 187 co-feature.

As Smith and Spann move toward their high-stakes battle at 205 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

33: Years of age for Smith, who was born on July 26, 1988 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

19: Smith victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 54% of his career total (35). His list of UFC victims: Crute, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, Hector Lombard, Andrew Sanchez and Elvis Mutapcic. Smith owns 13 other victories by submission, two more by decision and another via undisclosed method.

2: Promotions in which Smith has won titles. He laid claim to the middleweight crown in Cage Fury Fighting Championships and captured the middleweight belt in Victory Fighting Championship.

18: First-round finishes on the Smith resume, four of which have taken place in the UFC. In addition to Crute, “Lionheart” cut down Evans with a knee strike in 53 seconds at UFC 225 on June 9, 2018, disposed of Rua with an elbow strike in 1:29 at UFC Fight Night 134 on July 22, 2018 and submitted Devin Clark with a triangle choke in 2:34 at UFC on ESPN 18 on Nov. 28, 2020.

260: Combined wins between the 16 men—Aleksandar Rakic, Glover Teixeira, Jon Jones, Thiago Santos, Cezar Ferreira, Josh Neer, Antonio Braga Neto, Roger Gracie, Adlan Amagov, Jesse Forbes, Jake Hecht, Mike Pitz, Chaun Sims, Brian Monaghan, Charley Lynch and Chuck Parmelee—who have defeated Smith. They sport a cumulative record of 260-80-3 (.759).

30: Years of age for Spann, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee on Aug. 24, 1991.

11: Spann wins by submission, accounting for 58% of his career total (19). His methods of choice include seven guillotine chokes and three rear-naked chokes. Spann holds five other wins by knockout or technical knockout and three more by decision.

4: Sub-minute stoppage victories to Spann’s credit. He submitted Brandon Atkins with a guillotine choke 44 seconds into their encounter under the Hero Fighting Championship banner on June 21, 2013, punched out Larry Crowe eight seconds into their Legacy Fighting Championship 42 pairing on June 26, 2015, put away Roman Pizzolato with a guillotine choke 20 seconds into their World Fighting Championships 72 confrontation on May 13, 2017 and turned away Emiliano Sordi with a guillotine choke 26 seconds into their Dana White’s Contender Series Season 2 clash on June 19, 2018.

1.39: Spann knockdowns per 15 minutes of UFC competition, putting him fifth on the promotion’s active list for light heavyweights. He trails only Walker (1.99), Khalil Rountree (1.62), Marcos Rogerio de Lima (1.52) and Crute (1.42).

.729: Cumulative winning percentage between the six men—Johnny Walker, Karl Roberson, Trevin Giles, Robert Drysdale, Leo Leite and Brandon Farran—who have beaten Giles. They boast a combined record of 70-26.