LAS VEGAS – UFC light heavyweight contender Ryan Spann is days away from his second main event, but revealed the promotion initially had bigger plans for him.
Spann (21-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who enters Saturday’s marquee bout at UFC Fight Night 219 against Nikita Krylov, said the UFC called him with a plan to fight for the light heavyweight title after his win in November.
“This fight almost didn’t happen, but I still feel good about it,” Spann told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “… We was on call for the situation with the belt.”
The light heavyweight title picture drastically changed ahead of UFC 282 when then-champion Jiri Prochazka’s severe injury caused him to withdraw from the fight and vacate the title to keep the division moving. Spann said he was contacted to make a quick turnaround at the December pay-per-view, putting his name in the mix with Magomed Ankalaev and former champions Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz.
“I was going to fight, I want to say, Jan at first,” Spann told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “Then from there I was going to fight for the No. 1 guaranteed, and then fight the winner for, at the time, was an interim belt. So, Magomed and Glover were going to fight for the interim, and then I was going to fight for No. 1, because they already knew that homie was going to be out for a while.”
The promotion ended up going with Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev in the UFC 282 main event. The bout resulted in a draw, which led to Jamahal Hill capturing the vacant belt by defeating Teixeira just over a month later at UFC 283.
Spann wasn’t exactly happy he didn’t get to go down the path that was initially laid out, because he was on the sidelines watching as the division hit a reset button of sorts. It also meant he had more work to do to fight for a title shot.
“I don’t do this to show off,” Spann said. “I don’t do this to fight for no reason. I want what I want, so I can get out when I can get out. I want to get in and out, and the longer it takes me to get there, the longer I got to stay.”
Spann will find himself sharing the octagon with Krylov (29-9 MMA, 10-7 UFC) on Saturday, and isn’t particularly worried about what his opponent brings to the table, as long as he is focused when the cage door closes.
“I don’t know his style,” Spann said. “I don’t know what he’s going to do, I don’t care what he’s going to try to do. I just know that if I have fun, and be calm, I’ll see everything.”
With a win in what will be his second main event, Spann hopes to be in a position to fight for the title that is currently held by fellow Dana White’s Contender Series veteran Hill. Once he gets that opportunity and if he captures the title, Spann and his Fortis MMA teammate Kennedy Nzechukwu have already thought about how things will unfold from that point.
“My plan is to get the belt, then I’ll leave it for Kennedy,” Spann said. “When Kennedy’s ready, I’ll either go up, or I’ll be done.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.
