Ryan Spann on why he feels 'like a different person' ahead of UFC Vegas 37
UFC's No. 11-ranked light heavyweight Ryan Spann, who has won nine of his last 10 fights, says he's not upset heading into his first main event matchup vs. Anthony Smith on Saturday despite claims to the contrary.
Video transcript
KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole and welcome to Yahoo Sports. And my guest right now is Superman. I don't know if he can fly through the air or leap over buildings in a single bound, but this dude can fight. Ryan Spann is going to be in the main event on Saturday. The UFC Fight over at Apex got a tough test in number six light heavyweight Anthony Smith. Ryan, how you doing, my friend?
RYAN SPANN: I'm doing good, how about you?
KEVIN IOLE: Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the fight. You had a little trash talk out there, you got Anthony Smith a little bit riled up. So it seems like we're ready for you guys to throw it out.
RYAN SPANN: I don't understand what it came from because it hadn't been talked on end. I don't even do a lot of interviews so I don't know where that came from. Maybe, he heard a promo or whatever, but there's no trash talking on my end. I got nothing but respect for him. I'm happy like I don't know why people think I'm upset, I'm not.
KEVIN IOLE: Interesting. You're in a really interesting spot here, number 11. You're getting a chance to fight the number six guy in the division. And I talked to him earlier and I said it looks to me like you're following the same trajectory that he did, right? You made a big leap. You were a prospect and you made a big leap up. And now with a win over Anthony Smith, this puts you in a really good position where you're out playing with the big dogs on a regular basis for good.
RYAN SPANN: That's the plan, man. I'm trying I'm trying to get up there. He's been where I'm trying to go, and that's maybe the tone that they took as me being angry, but he's somewhere I want to be. And in order for me to get there, I got to go through.
KEVIN IOLE: Sure.
RYAN SPANN: That's what I do.
KEVIN IOLE: Coming off a nice one over Misha's certain of a guy that I had hoped for that was going to turn out to be a really good fighter.
RYAN SPANN: He's still a good fighter. He's still a good fighter. He just had to fight deep.
KEVIN IOLE: Right.
RYAN SPANN: That's all-- [AUDIO OUT]
KEVIN IOLE: I like Misha. I was just saying that you handled them pretty good there. And I guess what I wanted to get to and that is you're coming off a loss. Your first loss in a while to Johnny Walker, so did that change your mindset when you're going in that? Did you fight with any more urgency, or was there you know a difference in approach given that your winning streak was over and now you're having a come off a loss and in a really deep division?
RYAN SPANN: I Need to work for the Misha fight.
KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, before the Misha fight.
RYAN SPANN: OK, the difference is I guess it was more-- I understand the circumstances in which I lost and why I lost, and I had to accept that. And I have to deal with it internally and that's what we did and we came back. When I fought Misha, I was different. And even now, I'm more different than I was then. Even as a as a person period, because a lot of the time, it was my personal life that will affect my fight career. And now, that we've been making strides to alleviate that some of that tension and the issue between the two lives, or whatever, so have you. And now, I just feel different I feel like a different person now. Like I said, I'm happy. I don't know why people keep saying I'm angry. I'm not angry.
KEVIN IOLE: Same happened to me. Let me touch on what you just said. I always have the feeling that to be an MMA fighter or to be a professional fighter, you have to be selfish. Like everything has got to be about you and you have that. That can be hard on your personal life, how do you deal with that stuff where you know you have? If I'm going to get in there with in a cage with a guy trying to knock my head off and if I'm not prepared to the fullest, I'm going to be laying on my back looking up at the light. How do you give all your time to that to do what you need to do compared to your family?
RYAN SPANN: The key is this right here - having someone that understands and she understands what I have to do. And when I have to take a step back to start focusing on fighting, she does a lot of the work. And that's why it makes me fight harder because I'm trying to make her life as easy as possible. And we have three kids and we live in a small little apartment, and she has to do everything. And that makes me fight harder because I'm working for something. It's not that I'm trying to fight to be great because I want the glory and all of that. I don't care about all that, I want my family to have a different life and that's what I'm fighting for.
KEVIN IOLE: What's the first big goal in the step to getting that different life? Is that a house? Is there some material thing, or is it just the general satisfaction that your family is taking care of?
RYAN SPANN: I think it's more general satisfaction that my family is taken care of. Although I am in the process of getting the house, just like a few minutes ago signed the thing we've been negotiating. We just started that. And I think this is probably like day four out of 7, and we're on the seven day. Once you're trying to get a house, you got seven days before you can take over, and that's where we are right now. So I've been actually out here trying to negotiate on different things and because that's what drives me man. Being able to take my wife to a house like this is yours. This is being able to buy her the one she wants. I don't know.
KEVIN IOLE: I want to hear about the new crib, where is it out? What kind of house you get?
RYAN SPANN: So this is just the beginning. And what I'm going to do is basically kill two birds with one stone. I have to get out of my apartment because it's five of us living in a two bedroom apartment. So we're going to get a three bed but that's only because, like I talked about after the Misha press conference, I got to work on my credit. I never knew how serious that issue is. So it's not the fact that I couldn't afford a better house, it's the fact that my credit wouldn't allow me to get a better house because I want a five bedroom. And so since I can't get that, we're going to move just to have more space to a three bedroom house with three bedroom and two baths.
And it's not far from one of my best friend, my childhood best friend. So our kids can play together and it's going to take me out of Dallas. I don't necessarily want to say exactly where, but it's going to take me out of Dallas for somewhere between 20 to 40 minutes out of Dallas. I'm done. The first thing is to get in there to get space and then again, I continued to work on my credit. And I want to build a house in the same neighborhood and I want to stay there while I build one.
So we don't have to be in an apartment trying to build one because who knows how long that's going to take. And then when I get out of this house, I'm just going to give it to my mom. And I'm going to move my mom out to DFW area where I am. And they already live in Beaumont but my brother has moved and I hadn't gone. Her and my step brother was there by myself. So it only makes sense for you to come one to the other, and I'll be able to give this house. But I don't plan on being in this house long. I just want to be in long enough to we're not going to build a house I'll build a house.
KEVIN IOLE: Whoa, I can't root for a guy that's trying to get a house for his mom and one for his wife. You got to love that. How you do it? How do you get there? Anthony Smith is a tough guy. He's known for his grappling, but I think striking is underrated. And with few exceptions, he's always done well on the feet. Give me a breakdown of Anthony Smith and what you think you have to do to defeat him.
RYAN SPANN: As far as a breakdown, to be honest with you, I feel like I've been saying this all day because everybody asked me somewhat similar to same question. But I don't watch film so I don't necessarily have a breakdown on what he does. But at the same time, I know what I can do and I just have to show up and do what I do.
KEVIN IOLE: You don't have to be Superman, you just have to be Ryan, right? We don't need to do anything crazy, just be Ryan and you feel that's enough?
RYAN SPANN: Sometimes, they can be wondering the same. I don't have to do too much, I'll just be me and be happy like I am. Be in the moment and be free and it comes.
KEVIN IOLE: You're lost on the contender series, I think that was your fourth loss and a little bit a short period of time. How did you overcome that? Because sometimes, this sport eats up talented fighters. Look at your record out, for losses and six fights. A lot of fighters do well, right? And then they hit that one rough spot and they melt. You actually came back and started reeling off a big long winning streak. What was the key for you in that and how did you get yourself back on track to where now, you've won 9 in your last 10?
RYAN SPANN: My family. The People that believed in me when I couldn't to believe in myself. And that drove me like a conversation with my son that everybody always talks about that I had. And he was like three or four at the time. And it just things like that because I'm fighting for something more than-- I'm fighting for something more than what people think. I don't care about the glory. That's why I don't do a lot of interviews because it's not about me. I don't fight for me. I don't care. My Instagram and a lot of my stuff is private because I'm not doing this for that. It's not about that. I don't care about that. I don't care about sitting here having to do interviews. No offense, but I want to provide for my family and this is how I do it.
KEVIN IOLE: Now, I get that. I understand that. The tough part of the job because you've got to get people to buy tickets to the fights and everything. So this is part of doing that, but I know it's got to be tough.
RYAN SPANN: That's the beautiful part about COVID, we don't have tickets to sell.
KEVIN IOLE: Before I let you go, how do you see this fight going down? How do you finish him?
RYAN SPANN: I don't know. I just get the job done. I want to do my job. That's all I want to do, I'm going to do my job and get my hand raised the sooner the better. I don't want to rush it, I don't want to force it, I just do my job.
KEVIN IOLE: Well, that is Ryan Spann, Superman as he is known. He's not mad at Anthony Smith, he's not mad at anybody else. He just wants to win the fight and buy a house for a mom and the wife. So you can't have anything bad to say about that. Ryan, I appreciate you, brother. All the best.
RYAN SPANN: Thank you. Thank you.
KEVIN IOLE: Thank you.
