UFC Vegas 37: ‘Smith vs Spann’ | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are here tonight – Saturday, September 18th., 2021, to breakdown the UFC Vegas 37: ‘Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann’ event, which was broadcast from the cozy confines of the Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any our BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS…)

After undergoing only one fight cancellations for this card, the UFC featured a mega 14-bout event with a Light Heavyweight showdown in the main event of tonight’s Fight Night card. The main event featured fight veteran, former Strikeforce and Bellator alum, number 6-ranked, Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith, who was sporting a 35-16 record, and former Legacy Fighting Alliance Light Heavyweight Champion, the number 11-seeded, Ryan ‘Superman’ Spann with his 19-6 record.

Main Event Outcome:

‘Lionheart’ made it one step closer to his title shot tonight when he impressively submitted ‘Superman’ only three minutes and forty-seven seconds into the first round of five, via Rear Naked Choke Submission. Smith and Spann seemed to have words after the stoppage and security needed to rush into the Octagon to break things up.

For the co-main event, we had a Light Heavyweight brawl between Ion ‘The Hulk’ Cutelaba and Devin ‘Brown Bear’ Clark. Cutelaba, the Moldovan Greco-Roman Wrestler, coming off a win to Magomed Anaklaev back at UFC 254, would face off against the ‘Brown Bear’ from South Dakota, a former NJCAA Wreslter, who was entering the octagon on a two-fight losing skid.

Co-Main Outcome:

Cutelaba put on a dominant performance against Devin Clark tonight, repeatedly smashing his head into the canvas, bashing his lower teeth in. There was talk in the corner before round three whether the fight should go on. It did, but it didn’t change the end result: Ion via Unanimous Decision.

Also on the card, we had a Lightweight bout between Arman ‘Ahalkalakets’ Tsarukyan and Christos ‘The Spartan’ Giagos, a Bantamweight bout between Nate ‘Mayhem’ Maness and Tony Gravely, as well as some noteworthy prelims battles including a Welterweight bout between the impressive brawler, Carlston ‘Moçambique’ Harris and Impa ‘Tshilobo’ Kasanganay, and a Flyweight bout between up-and-comers Hannah ‘24K’ Goldy (Goldschmidt) and Emily ‘Spitfire’ Whitmire.

Notable Outcomes:

Both Tsarukyan and Maness walked away with POTN bonuses tonight thanks to their KO/TKO victories over Giagos and Gravely. Harris pummeled Kasanganay for an upset victory and Goldy armbarred Whitmire; both in the first rounds of their prelim bouts.

This week the guys’ picks heading into the 14-bout event were:

Both: Smith
Both: Cutelaba
Both: Lipski
Both: Tsarukyan
Both: Gravely
Both: Buckley
Zane: Nchukwi, Eddie: Buckley
Zane: Pennington, Eddie: Kianzad
Both: Rong
Both: Jackson
Both: Blanchfield
Both: Kasanganay
Both: Alateng
Zane: Whitmire, Eddie: Goldy

Overall, this now 14-bout card saw four exhilarating first round finishes (including our Main Event), five impressive KO/TKO’s, two sweet submissions (including our Main Event), and six hard-fought decisions. Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Anthony Smith, Arman Tsarukyan, Nate Maness, and Joaquin Buckley; FOTN honors went to no one tonight. What a great night of fights we have to share with you, join us to discuss all the action…

Here’s a look at the fight card, updated fight records & results —

UFC VEGAS 37: ‘ANTHONY SMITH VS RYAN SPANN’

ESPN/ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. SEP 18
14. 205lbs: Anthony Smith (36-16) DEF. Ryan Spann (19-7) – SUB, Rear-Naked Choke at 3:47 of Rd 1/5

13. 205lbs: Ion Cutelaba (16-6) DEF. Devin Clark (12-6) – DEC, Unanimous

12. 125lbs: Ariane Lipski (14-7) DEF. Mandy Böhm (7-1) – DEC, Unanimous

11. 155lbs: Arman Tsarukyan (17-2) DEF. Christos Giagos (19-9) – KO/TKO, Left Hook to Ground Strikes at 2:09 of Rd 1

10. 135lbs: Nate Maness (14-1) DEF. Tony Gravely (21-7) – KO/TKO, Hook to Ground Strikes at 2:10 of Rd 2, Total 7:10

9. 185lbs: Joaquin Buckley (13-4) DEF. Antônio Arroyo (9-5) – KO/TKO, Right Hook to Ground Strikes at 2:26 of Rd 3, Total 12:26

ESPN+ PRELIMS
8. 205lbs: Tafon Nchukwi (6-1) DEF. Mike Rodriguez (11-7) – DEC, Unanimous

7. 135lbs: Raquel Pennington (12-8) DEF. Pannie Kianzad (15-6) – DEC, Unanimous

6. 155lbs: Zhu Rong (18-4) DEF. Brandon Jenkins (15-8) – KO/TKO, G&P at 4:35 of Rd 3, Total 14:35

5. 135lbs: Montel Jackson (11-2) DEF. JP Buys (9-4) – DEC, Unanimous

4. 125lbs: Erin Blanchfield (7-1) DEF. Sarah Alpar (9-6) – DEC, Unanimous

3. 170lbs: Carlston Harris (17-4) DEF. Impa Kasanganay (9-2) – KO/TKO, Hooks to Ground Strikes at 2:38 of Rd 1

2. 135lbs: Gustavo Lopez (12-6) vs. Heili Alateng (14-8) – Unanimous DRAW

1. 125lbs: Hannah Goldy (6-2) DEF. Emily Whitmire (4-5) – SUB, Armbar at 4:17 of Rd 1

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings. ‘Bloody Elbow Presents’ is a mixed martial arts podcast network presented to you by Bloody Elbow:

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Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ on Saturday, September 25th, for UFC 266.