Anthony Smith extended his winning and finishing streak to three straight with a first-round submission victory over Ryan Spann in the main event of a UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Smith dropped Spann with a left hook early in the opening round and quickly took advantage of his opponent on the mat, locking in a rear-naked choke and forcing a tap.
The former light-heavyweight title challenger then flagrantly stood over Spann as a response to some pre-fight trash talk.
ANTHONY SMITH IN THE FIRST ROUND! #UFCVegas37 pic.twitter.com/jNs1HBR70S
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) September 19, 2021
The win moved Smith (36-16) back into the top five at 205 pounds. He sits at No. 4 behind fellow challengers Aleksandar Rakic, Jiri Prochazka, Glover Teixeira and titleholder Jan Blachowicz. Meanwhile, Spann (19-7) remains at No. 11 in the division and has now lost two of his past three outings in the first round.
Rising lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, bantamweight Nate Maness and middleweight Joaquin Buckley also picked up impressive stoppage wins on the main card.
Below are the complete results.
MAIN CARD
-- Anthony Smith def. Ryan Spann by submission (rear-naked choke)
-- Ion Cutelaba def. Devin Clark by unanimous decision
-- Ariane Lipski def. Mandy Böhm by unanimous decision
-- Arman Tsarukyan def. Christos Giagos by technical knockout
-- Nate Maness def. Tony Gravely by technical knockout
-- Joaquin Buckley def. Antônio Arroyo by knockout
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Tafon Nchukwi def. Mike Rodríguez by unanimous decision
-- Raquel Pennington def. Pannie Kianzad by unanimous decision
-- Zhu Rong def. Brandon Jenkins by technical knockout
-- Montel Jackson def. JP Buys by unanimous decision
-- Erin Blanchfield def. Sarah Alpar by unanimous decision
-- Carlston Harris def. Impa Kasanganay by technical knockout
-- Gustavo Lopez vs. Heili Alateng ends in unanimous draw
-- Hannah Goldy def. Emily Whitmire by submission (armbar)
