Ryan Spann made sure to bounce back in impressive fashion from his first UFC loss.
The rising light heavyweight contender picked up a first-round TKO win, stopping Misha Cirkunov at UFC Fight Night 187. The official end came at the 1:11 mark of Round 1.
The light heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 187 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.
It was a quick night of work for Spann (19-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC).
The 29-year-old immediately put the pressure on Cirkunov (15-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and quickly landed, setting the pace in the fight. Spann hit with a low blow, but the fight quickly resumed after getting halted by the referee. Seconds after the low blow, Spann connected with a straight right that sent Cirkunov to the canvas. Spann chose not to pounce and let the fight get restarted back on the feet. From there, Spann dropped the Canadian once again, but this time followed up with ground-and-pound for the finish.
“Superman” is back in the win column after having suffered his first UFC loss back in September. Spann was stopped by Johnny Walker in the first round of their contest. Prior to the defeat to Walker, Spann was on an eight-fight wining streak.
On the other hand, Cirkunov falls to 2-4 in his past six UFC bouts.
In the post-fight interview, Spann showed interest in facing the winner of Anthony Smith vs. Jimmy Crute, which goes down next month at UFC 261.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 187 results include:
- Ryan Spann def. Misha Cirkunov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:11
- Dan Ige def. Gavin Tucker via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:22
- Davey Grant def. Jonathan Martinez via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 3:03
- Matheus Nicolau def. Manel Kape via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart declared no contest (illegal knee) – Round 1, 4:37
- Angela Hill def. Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Charles Jourdain def. Marcelo Rojo via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:31
- Rani Yahya def. Ray Rodriguez via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:09
- Nasrat Haqparast def. Rafa Garcia via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- J.J. Aldrich def. Cortney Casey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jinh Yu Frey def. Gloria de Paula via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matthew Semelsberger def. Jason Witt via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:16
