UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ 50: Smith vs. Spann (09/18/2021) - Las Vegas, NV (UFC APEX)

[Elsalvajeloco]

UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ 50: Smith vs. Spann 
September 18, 2021
Las Vegas, NV (UFC APEX)

Anthony Smith (205.5) vs. Ryan Spann (206) - Smith, SUB (rear naked choke), R1 (3:47)
Ion Cuțelaba (205) vs. Devin Clark (206) - Cuțelaba, DEC (unanimous)
Ariane Lipski (126) vs. Mandy Böhm (125.5) - Lipski, DEC (unanimous)   
Arman Tsarukyan (155.5) vs. Christos Giagos (155.5) - Tsarukyan, TKO (punches), R1 (2:09)
Nate Maness (135) vs. Tony Gravely (135.5) - Maness, TKO (punches), R2 (2:10)
Joaquin Buckley (184.5) vs. Antônio Arroyo (186) - Buckley, KO (punches), R3 (2:26)

ESPN+ Preliminary Card:
Mike Rodríguez (202)vs. Tafon Nchukwi (204.5) - Nchukwi, DEC (unanimous)
Pannie Kianzad (136) vs. Raquel Pennington (135.5) - Pennington, DEC (unanimous)
Rong Zhu (158)* vs. Brandon Jenkins (155.5) - Zhu, TKO (strikes), R3 (4:35)
Montel Jackson (136) vs. JP Buys (136) - Jackson, DEC (unanimous)
Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Sarah Alpar (126) - Blanchfield, DEC (unanimous)
Impa Kasanganay (170.5) vs. Carlston Harris (170) - Harris, TKO (punches), R1 (2:38)
Gustavo Lopez (135) vs. Heili Alateng (136) - DRAW (unanimous)
Emily Whitmire (125) vs. Hannah Goldy (125) - Goldy, SUB (armbar), R1 (4:17)

*Forfeits 20% of purse for missing weight

Event Bonuses ($50,000)
Performance of the Night: Joaquin Buckley
Performance of the Night: Nate Maness
Performance of the Night: Arman Tsarukyan
Performance of the Night: Anthony Smith

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I dunno what's scarier: Buckley's hematoma or the KO he ended up getting.

[jaedmc]

Maness/Gravely was good. Maness looked pretty solid defending the takedown in the first, but then getsdropped with 3 seconds left. Saved by the bell only to return the favor for the win. Fun times.

[Elsalvajeloco]

2 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

Maness/Gravely was good. Maness looked pretty solid defending the takedown in the first, but then getsdropped with 3 seconds left. Saved by the bell only to return the favor for the win. Fun times.

With another ref, that gets waved off and ends after round 1. 

[jaedmc]

2 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

With another ref, that gets waved off and ends after round 1. 

It definitely looked bad and I thought when the ref went into to break it up he was actually ending it not just stopping it for the bell. Then when Maness got up he looked like a drunk at the party trying not to let anyone know he was drunk. Which I guess makes it an even more impressive recovery, because I thought he was getting dropped in 30 seconds in Round 2.

[Elsalvajeloco]

That was a straight up demolition job.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Ariane Lipski saves her UFC career with a pretty good performance overall.

[jaedmc]

Moral victory at the end for Devin Clark, I guess. I mean getting absolutely man handled for 14 minutes and then getting a minute in the sun almost makes having your smile rearranged worth it.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Ryan Spann looked like he was being thrown by a strong gust of wind.

[jaedmc]

Oh goddamn Anthony Smith fired up is fucking awesome. 

That Ryan Spann hype video about him feeling disrespected that folks didn't think he was ready for a main event aged poorly reeeeeal fast.

[Elsalvajeloco]

14 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

Oh goddamn Anthony Smith fired up is fucking awesome. 

That Ryan Spann hype video about him feeling disrespected that folks didn't think he was ready for a main event aged poorly reeeeeal fast.

I like Spann and he's a solid LHW, but this firmly established what his ceiling is: perfect set up opponent for a high level gatekeeper or prospect.

[DreamBroken]

Lionheart! Awesome victory for one of my favs to watch.

Ariane Lipski with her best performance, that punch she landed in the last couple minutes was killer. 

Epic comeback from Nate Maness!

Good to see a successful debut for "Cold Blooded" Erin Blanchfield, always liked her in Invicta

[TheVileOne]

Anthony Smith looked really good on Saturday night, but I don't know I like the idea of a rematch with him and Rakic. Seems more like he should be angling for a fight with Jiri Prochazka.

I kind of feel like Smith should take Reyes' spot in the top 5 now.