Ryan Spann got out of his own way on Saturday evening, but the focus still remains on the mental game.
In the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 36 against Ion Cutelaba, Spann (20-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was able to overcome adversity on the ground to get up and slap on a lighting-quick guillotine choke. Cutelaba (16-7-1 MMA, 5-6-1 UFC) was trapped in the submission and had no choice but to tap quickly, ending the fight in the first round.
It was the fourth-straight outing for Spann in which his fight ended in the opening frame, but unlike his last bout, he got his hand raised. Walking away from this bout with virtually no damage and an upcoming card rumored to take place close to where he trains in Dallas, it seems Spann would be poised for a quick turnaround. However, at the moment, the Fortis MMA product isn’t thinking that far ahead.
“I don’t know when I plan to return,” Spann told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “I gotta go and work on some things on myself, on the mental side of things. I gotta learn how to get out of my way and stay out of my way. I want to spend some time with my family, and I want to come back and do what we all know I can do, which is be world champion. But first and foremost, I gotta take care of myself.”
The mental game was a big focus for Spann following his loss to former title challenger Anthony Smith last September. This week, he said he had fun all week long, which led to a strong performance inside the cage.
“There’s still some chaotic moments that tends to happen in my brain,” Spann said. “I tend to make things a lot harder for myself than they should be and sometimes the chaos seeps out of my brain and kind of makes things around me chaotic. Which is why I said I need to go and fix myself, and then when I come back, I’ll be out of my way.”
Spann’s victory over Cutelaba marked the sixth win of his UFC run. The Dana White’s Contender Series veteran has finished four of his UFC opponents and looks to be a serious threat to the top of the division with performances like the one he turned in on Saturday.