UFC light heavyweight contender Ryan Spann has responded to Anthony Smith’s comments regarding a future rematch.
Spann is coming off of the biggest win of his UFC career over former title challenger Dominick Reyes at UFC 281. He bounced back in a big way after defeating Ion Cuțelaba via submission earlier this year.
Spann lost to Smith in his first-career UFC main event last year in a first-round submission. There were some tense moments leading up to the fight, with some pre-fight trash talk between the two sides.
After his win over Reyes, Spann hinted at wanting someone in the Top 5, except for numbers 2-4 in the rankings. That would leave Smith at No. 5, as the top contender Glover Teixeira is set to face Jiří Procházka at UFC 282.
Smith didn’t take kindly to Spann’s indirect callout.
During a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast, Smith blasted Spann after allegedly hinting at targeting a rematch.
“I don’t know what happened in our fight that left him with any confidence that he thinks he can still beat me or that he deserves a rematch,” Smith said. “I had him on ice skates until he was shooting takedowns, I strangled him, and then stood over his body, reminding him what he said he was going to do to me. So, he’s my bitch forever and he knows it.”
Smith hasn’t fought since a loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277. He’s won three of his last four fights, including over Spann and Jimmy Crute.
It didn’t take long for Spann to get word of Smith’s harsh rhetoric, but he took the high road in his response.
Ryan Spann Responds To Anthony Smith’s Recent Belittling
Spann responded to Smith’s comments during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
“I’ve never said that man’s name,” Spann said. “We’re moving on to some other things, we got some things going on in-house right now that we’re trying to worry about. And we’re not worried about anything on the outside.
“I don’t know what his problem is, I don’t know why he’s bringing my name up. All I said was I wanted two numbers. That’s all I said…at no point have I ever called that man out. But the time will come, but right now we have some in-house things that have our attention as a team.”
Smith’s loss to Ankalaev doesn’t fully eliminate the possibility of a rematch with Spann. Although, it seems that Smith isn’t interested in running it back anytime soon.
Spann appears to be hitting his stride after the Reyes win, and he has his eyes set on title contention. As he moves up the ladder, another shot at Smith may come to fruition depending on how things play out.
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