Rizvan KunievvsRyan Spann

Ryan Spann is back at light heavyweight and hunting for momentum after a wild ride between weight classes. Superman just bounced back from a rough heavyweight stint with that slick standing guillotine over Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 307, the same finish he used to tap Lukasz Brzeski in July. That's two straight first round chokes, and when Spann locks that thing in, fights end fast. But before that? He got stopped by Bogdan Guskov and dropped a split decision to Anthony Smith, so this is a crucial spot for the Fortis MMA product. Rizvan Kuniev is making his UFC debut after pushing Curtis Blaydes to a split decision loss in Baku back in June.

Yeah, you read that right. This Russian heavyweight went three hard rounds with a top contender and had one judge seeing it his way. Now he's dropping down to 205 pounds for his first official UFC fight, which is interesting as hell. Gorets Fight Club is sending him in against a proven finisher, and that takes serious confidence. Here's the thing about Spann. When he's on, that guillotine is absolutely nasty.

He's finished two straight fights in under three minutes with it. But he's also been caught on the ground himself, eating ground and pound finishes in both those losses. Kuniev showed he can hang with elite competition at heavyweight, landing 58 strikes and keeping pace for fifteen minutes against Blaydes. The size and strength advantage he had up there is gone now, but the toughness isn't.