Ryan Spann suffered 15-second knockout as Dana White watched before 13-fight UFC run
03/12/2025 09:05 AM
Ryan Spann needed two bites at the cherry to secure his spot on the UFC roster: 'Superman' flies back into the action this weekend at UFC Vegas 104.
This weekend's Fight Night card is your standard Apex showing, with a host of promotional veterans set to compete inside the 'Warehouse of Dreams' on Saturday, March 15.
One of those veterans is Contender Series alumni Ryan 'Superman' Spann, who famously earned his spot on the UFC roster one year after being viciously knocked out in front of Dana White.
Ryan Spann's UFC tenure couldn't have gotten off to a worse start
In 2017, the UFC launched a new show for scouting talent – Dana White's Contender Series – with Ryan Spann getting the opportunity to compete in front of the UFC CEO in only its third episode.
'Superman' was matched up against undefeated American Karl 'Baby K' Roberson and despite entering the octagon as a slight favorite, it's safe to say that Spann's UFC tenure couldn't have gotten off to a worse start.
Less than five seconds into the opening round, the two 205lbers found themselves pressed up against the fence. Yet as Spann attempted to secure a takedown by reaching for Roberson's leg, 'Superman' left his head in the danger zone.
Roberson capitalized on that teeny-tiny opening with vicious intent, landing two short elbows from the inside that saw Spann crumple to the canvas for what was the second TKO loss of his career.
Following his shock KO loss on DWCS, Spann was sent back to the regional scene; and after three stoppage wins in the LFA, including claiming the promotion's light heavyweight title, earned a second shot at a UFC contract.
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'Superman' bounced back with stop-start 13-fight UFC run
In June 2018, Spann was again offered the chance to fight on DWCS, and coming up against Emiliano Sordi, 'Superman' wasn't about to let his UFC dream slip away a second time.
Just 10 seconds into round one, the American landed a powerful right hand that dropped Sordi, who would scramble off the bottom and shoot a panic takedown, leaving his neck exposed.
Spann quickly locked up a guillotine choke and put his opponent to sleep after the referee failed to see him tapping out – with his UFC contract secured, 'Superman' was off to the races.
Spann's official UFC run started with four consecutive wins but in September 2020, he ran into a then-surging Johnny Walker, who finished him with a nasty elbow strike inside the first round.
The American went 3-1 in his next four fights, the best of which was a sensational first-round knockout win over Dominick Reyes in November 2022.
Unfortunately, Spann would then suffer back-to-back-to-back defeats, although he did rebound with another impressive guillotine choke submission win over Ovince St. Preux in his last fight.
Ryan Spann has now opted to move up to heavyweight and takes on Waldo Cortes-Acosta on the UFC Vegas 104: Vettori vs Dolidze 2 prelims – the event is scheduled for Saturday, March 15.
