This weekend’s installment of UFC Fight Night is set for Saturday night at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas. Anthony Smith, the onetime UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger, squares off against Ryan Spann in the main event. Ion Cutelaba meets Devin Clark in another light heavyweight fight that was rescheduled from May to allow Clark to recover from injury in the co-headliner.
Let’s take a look at the complete fight card, along with our UFC betting insights on the top matchups.
UFC Fight Night 192: Smith vs Spann Preview
Main Card (ESPN+)
Anthony Smith vs Ryan Spann (Light Heavyweight)
Ion Cutelaba vs Devin Clark (Light Heavyweight)
Ariane Lipski vs Mandy Bohm (Women’s Flyweight)
Arman Tsarukyan vs Christos Giagos (Lightweight)
Joaquin Buckley vs Antonio Arroyo (Middleweight)
Nate Maness vs Tony Gravely (Bantamweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Nikolas Motta vs Cameron VanCamp (Lightweight)
Mike Rodriguez vs Tafon Nchukwi (Light Heavyweight)
Pannie Kianzad vs Raquel Pennington (Women’s Bantamweight)
Zhu Rong vs Brandon Jenkins (Lightweight)
Montel Jackson vs J.P. Buys (Bantamweight)
Erin Blanchfield vs Sarah Alpar (Women’s Flyweight)
Impa Kasanganay vs Carlston Harris (Welterweight)
Gustavo Lopez vs Heili Alateng (Bantamweight)
Emily Whitmire vs Hannah Goldy (Women’s Flyweight)
Anthony Smith (35-16, 10-6 UFC, -162) vs Ryan Spann (19-6, 5-1 UFC, +142) marks the latest stop on Smith’s second attempt to make it to the top of the light heavyweight division. He established a reputation as a comeback artist, as Elvis Mutapcic, Andrew Sanchez and Hector Lombard all led him on the cards, but then Smith came back to deliver finishes each time. After losing to Thiago Santos in 2018, he decided to move up to light heavyweight and quickly became the top contender, beating Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua and Volkan Oezdemir. That left him a title shot against Jon Jones, where he lost, but he came back with a win over Alexander Gustafson. Injuries sidelined him, as did the COVID-19 pandemic, and then he took a vicious beating from Glover Teixeira and then got outwrestled by Aleksandar Rakic. He turned things around with a quick submission win over Devin Clark and an injury stoppage victory over Jimmy Crute.
Spann is a dangerous opponent for Smith. He brings a lot of skill on offense, both in the striking game and on the ground. He does bring pressure forward, but other than that he is not predictable. He delivered knockouts against the likes of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Misha Cirkunov, and he won with wrestling against Sam Alvey. He did go down via knockout against Johnny Walker in 2020. However, he has the offensive firepower to do damage against just about anyone. Both of these fighters are dangerous to others — and they are both extremely inconsistent. Smith either goes at full speed or sits back, eating punishment, before pushing for the comeback. Spann has knockout power without a lot of focus. Expect Spann to push for the early finish — and expect Smith to have the savvy to wait and use the openings he is given.
Final Prediction:
Smith wins via submission
Ion Cutelaba (15-6-1, 4-5-1 UFC, -140) vs Devin Clark (12-5, 6-5 UFC, +120) features a pair of light heavyweight talents who have maddened supporters with their inconsistency. Cutelaba came into UFC in 2016 with a sky-high ceiling but has seen things fail to go forward for him. He can wrestle, and he can bring knockout power, but he is too aggressive, and when he does not get the early openings, he pushes too hard to force them and suffers as a result. He has only won one fight on the cards, back against Jonathan Wilson in 2016. When he loses, frequently it has to do with his unwillingness to show patience and play defense. In his last fight in May, he got off to a great start against Dustin Jacoby but had to settle for a draw.
Clark is a similar fighter in terms of pushing hard to get finishes, so hard that his defenses fold at just the wrong time. In his 2016 debut, he was way ahead of Alex Nicholson on the cards but then he charged right into a knockout punch. He can grind out wins, but his lack of defense makes that tough. He lost to Ryan Spann and Anthony Smith, via submission both times. He should benefit from Cutelaba’s low endurance, if he can make it past the first or second round…but that is doubtful.
Final Prediction:
Cutelaba wins via knockout
UFC Betting Odds
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