Ryan Spann: The "Superman" Story Nobody Is Telling

Saturday night at UFC Vegas 116, Ryan Spann flatlined Marcus Buchecha with a straight right hand in the second round. The man who holds more BJJ world titles than most fighters have professional wins got sent crashing to the canvas like a tree falling in the forest. Herb Dean didn't even need to count. It was over.

And nobody is talking about how wild Ryan Spann's actual story is. So let me tell it.

The Original Superman

The nickname didn't start with Ryan. That's the detail that makes the whole thing hit different.

Ryan Spann grew up in Westwood, a neighborhood just outside Memphis, Tennessee. His dad, the oldest boy out of eight siblings, was the guy who kept the block safe. When bullies showed up, his dad handled it. The neighborhood started calling him "Superman." Not as a joke. As a title.

So naturally, young Ryan became "Superkid." He wore it proudly for years. Then when he turned 17, he decided he was done with the kid version. In his own words: "When I hit 17, I was like, all right, I'm done with this kid thing. I'm a man now. So, Superman."

Most fighter nicknames are something a coach yelled during sparring or a promoter slapped on a poster. This one actually means something. His dad earned it by looking out for people and his son kept it because that's what you do. Honestly brings a tear to my eye.

Beaumont, Kendrick Perkins, and 18 Months Old

Spann's family eventually landed in Beaumont, Texas, where he went to Clifton J. Ozen High School. Same school that produced Kendrick Perkins, the NBA center who won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and spent 14 seasons in the league. Two professional athletes from the same high school in a city of 115,000 people. Beaumont keeps producing.

But here's the craziest detail about Spann's athletic background. He's been training martial arts since he was 18 months old. Not a typo. Eighteen months. He mentioned it in an ESPN feature as something that was just part of his life from the very beginning. He also did football and track, but combat sports outlasted everything else. By the time he was old enough to compete, fighting wasn't something he chose. It was something he'd been doing literally his entire conscious life.

He compiled a 3-1 amateur record fighting at middleweight and welterweight before turning pro in 2013. Think about that for a second. The man who just knocked out Buchecha at heavyweight started his career two weight classes below where he is now. He's been growing into this body his entire professional career bro.

The 15 Second Nightmare

Spann worked his way through the regional scene. Legacy Fighting Championship. Legacy Fighting Alliance. He won the LFA Light Heavyweight Championship by punching out Alex Nicholson in the first round at LFA 32. His record was 13-5. He was ready.

Dana White's Contender Series came calling in July 2017. This was supposed to be the moment. The UFC contract. The dream. Everything he'd been working toward since he was literally a toddler in a martial arts gym.

He fought Karl Roberson. It lasted 15 seconds. Roberson caught him with elbows and put him away before the fight even started. Contract gone. Dream gone. Fifteen seconds.

And then the depression hit.

Fightomic reported that after that loss, Spann went through a severe depressive spell that left him struggling with basic daily tasks. Not just "I'm bummed about losing" depression. The kind where getting out of bed is a fight in itself. The kind where the thing you built your entire identity around just got ripped away in the time it takes to tie your shoes.

Most people don't come back from that. Not because they can't fight. But because the mental damage of that kind of public failure, that fast, at that stage of your career, breaks something inside you that technique can't fix.

His Son Brought Him Back

Here's the part that changes the whole story. Spann has talked about a conversation with his young son as one of the moments that pulled him out of it. He's married with three kids. The man had a family looking at him while he was at his lowest. And something about that responsibility, that purpose outside of fighting, gave him a reason to get back in the gym.

He didn't come back cautiously. He came back with urgency.

June 19, 2018. Dana White's Contender Series. Round two. Second chance. Spann walked into the cage against Emiliano Sordi and submitted him with a guillotine choke in 26 seconds.

26 seconds. The man who lost his first shot in 15 seconds won his second shot in 26. He went from career ending depression to a UFC contract in under a year. And the way he won tells you everything about who he is as a fighter. 11 of his 24 career victories have come by neck submission. Eight guillotine chokes. Three rear naked chokes. When Superman gets his hands around your neck, the fight is over.

After the win he said: "This is what I've been working for my whole life."

He wasn't just saying that either. He'd literally been training since he was a baby.

Fortis MMA and the Light Heavyweight Years

Spann moved his whole family to Dallas to train at Fortis MMA under coach Sayif Saud. The gym is stacked. Alex Morono, Geoff Neal, Diego Ferreira, Damon Jackson. Iron sharpens iron and Spann sharpened fast.

His UFC run at light heavyweight was a rollercoaster. He beat some legit names. Ovince Saint Preux by submission. Misha Cirkunov by first round TKO, which got him a Performance of the Night bonus. Ion Cutelaba by guillotine. Dominick Reyes by first round KO. That Reyes win is worth stopping on because Reyes is the man who took Jon Jones to the absolute limit and almost arguably beat him. Spann knocked that guy out in round one.

But the losses were there too. Anthony Smith caught him with a rear naked choke. Johnny Walker KO'd him after Spann dropped him twice in the first round. Nikita Krylov triangle choked him. Bogdan Guskov stopped him with ground and pound. The pattern at 205 was clear. When Spann was on, he was terrifying. When he wasn't, the holes showed up fast.

His record going into the weight class change was 7-6 at light heavyweight in the UFC. Not bad. Not great. The kind of record that gets you labeled a gatekeeper and keeps you in the middle of the division forever. Some guys are fine with that. Spann wasn't.

The Heavyweight Reinvention

In 2025, Spann moved to heavyweight. And honestly? It might be the best decision of his career.

At light heavyweight he was cutting weight to make 205. At heavyweight he walks around at 240 to 265 naturally. No dehydration. No drain. No showing up to the cage with half his energy left in the sauna. He told the broadcast after the Buchecha fight "I looked a little chunky right there. We've got to fix that." Which is hilarious, but the point is he's not killing himself to make weight anymore and the results are showing.

His heavyweight debut was a split decision loss to Marcin Tybura. Then he submitted Lukasz Brzeski in the first round. Then Saturday night he flatlined Buchecha with one of the cleanest right hands you'll see all year. Two wins in a row. Both finishes. The man looks like he's breathing for the first time in his career.

At 6'5 with a 79 inch reach, Spann has the frame for heavyweight. He always did. The move should've happened earlier but sometimes fighters need to exhaust every option at their natural weight class before they accept what their body has been trying to tell them. Spann's body was trying to tell him he's a heavyweight and he finally listened.

What Saturday Night Actually Means

The Buchecha fight is worth breaking down because it showed everything Spann has learned at this weight.

Buchecha is a multi time BJJ world champion. His whole game is getting the fight to the ground and strangling you. In round one he got Spann down and immediately hunted for back control. That's supposed to be a death sentence against a grappler of that caliber.

But Spann scrambled out. Not just survived but scrambled out and started threatening his own submissions. Front headlocks. Guillotine attempts. He made Buchecha, one of the greatest grapplers alive, roll out of danger repeatedly. Then in the second round, when Buchecha couldn't get the fight to the ground anymore, Spann uncorked a left right combination and the straight right sent Buchecha crashing. Fight over. $100K Performance of the Night bonus.

That's a 34 year old heavyweight in his third fight at the weight class defending elite grappling, threatening his own submissions, and then finishing the fight with a punch that would've knocked out anyone in the division. Superman is flying again bro.

What Comes Next

Spann is now 24-11 overall, 10-6 in the UFC, and on a two fight win streak at heavyweight. He earned a $100K bonus Saturday night. He's training at one of the best gyms in the world with a coach who's been developing him for years. And for the first time in his career, he's fighting at a weight where his body isn't working against him.

The heavyweight division is in a weird spot right now. Tom Aspinall just had double eye surgery. Jones is retired or not retired depending on which day you ask. Hokit is the loudest name in the room but only has four UFC fights. There's space for a guy like Spann to climb if he keeps finishing people.

He's not a prospect. He's not a rookie with hype and no resume. He's a veteran who's been in the UFC since 2018, who's fought killers his entire career, who hit rock bottom after a 15 second loss and rebuilt himself into something new. That's a different kind of dangerous than a young undefeated fighter. That's a man who already knows what the bottom looks like and has no interest in going back.

Superman started as his father's nickname in a Memphis neighborhood. Then it became a kid's dream. Then it survived a 15 second nightmare and a depressive episode that almost ended everything. And on Saturday night in Las Vegas, it became a heavyweight's calling card all over again.

The man has been fighting since he was 18 months old. And he's not stopping till he touches gold.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Ryan Spann?

Ryan Spann is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the UFC's heavyweight division. Born August 24, 1991 in Memphis, Tennessee, he stands 6'5 with a 79 inch reach. He's a former LFA Light Heavyweight Champion who joined the UFC in 2018 through Dana White's Contender Series. His current record is 24-11 overall and 10-6 in the UFC.

Why is he called "Superman"?

The nickname is inherited from his father, who was known as "Superman" in their Westwood, Memphis neighborhood for defending locals against bullies. Ryan was called "Superkid" growing up and upgraded to "Superman" when he turned 17.

What happened on his first Contender Series appearance?

Spann lost to Karl Roberson in 15 seconds at Dana White's Contender Series 3 in July 2017. The loss triggered a severe depressive episode. He returned for Contender Series 10 in June 2018 and won a UFC contract by submitting Emiliano Sordi in 26 seconds.

Why did Spann move to heavyweight?

After going 7-6 at light heavyweight in the UFC, Spann moved to heavyweight in 2025 to stop cutting weight. He naturally walks around at 240 to 265 pounds and has credited the move with improving his energy and reducing injury risk.

What happened at UFC Vegas 116?

Spann knocked out multi time BJJ world champion Marcus Buchecha with a straight right hand at 2:10 of round two. He earned a $100K Performance of the Night bonus. It was his second consecutive heavyweight win and finish.

Where does Spann train?

Spann trains at Fortis MMA in Dallas, Texas under head coach Sayif Saud. He moved his entire family to Dallas to train at the gym alongside UFC fighters Alex Morono, Geoff Neal, Diego Ferreira, and Damon Jackson.