Ryan Spann vs.
Anthony Smith
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
What the numbers say.
Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.
Who did they actually beat?
Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.
Ryan Spann
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 11 | 7 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 5 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.1 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 35 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500
Anthony Smith
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 15 | 12 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 23 | 10 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.69 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 36 finish wins over 61 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-11 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.4 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Ryan Spann
Distance 85.2% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 3.8% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 11.0% (norm 10.4%)
Anthony Smith
Distance 91.7% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 5.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 3.0% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Ryan Spann
Head 87.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 10.4% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 2.6% (norm 9.7%)
Anthony Smith
Head 75.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 13.8% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 10.6% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Spann L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Smith L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 219 / 656 | 33.4% | 41.4% | 739 / 1539 | 48.0% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 22 / 29 | 75.9% | 70.9% | 64 / 89 | 71.9% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 63 / 85 | 74.1% | 72.3% | 37 / 50 | 74.0% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 229 / 670 | 34.2% | 38.9% | 527 / 1268 | 41.6% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 56 / 80 | 70.0% | 71.9% | 155 / 232 | 66.8% | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 19 / 20 | too few to rate | 81.8% | 158 / 178 | 88.8% | 81.8% |
Zones with fewer than 25 attempts are marked "too few to rate". Each fighter is measured against the median of leaderboard-eligible fighters in his own division (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters).
What lands on them Opponents' accuracy against each man
Green ≤ division median — harder to hit than the typical man in his division.
| Zone | vs Spann L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Smith L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 291 / 556 | 52.3% | 40.4% | 835 / 1752 | 47.7% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 24 / 35 | 68.6% | 68.7% | 117 / 170 | 68.8% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 65 / 83 | 78.3% | 70.4% | 395 / 500 | 79.0% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 258 / 532 | 48.5% | 37.5% | 810 / 1762 | 46.0% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 43 / 54 | 79.6% | 72.3% | 210 / 294 | 71.4% | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 79 / 88 | 89.8% | 83.0% | 327 / 366 | 89.3% | 83.0% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Smith has more cage time on record.