Athletes
Ryan Spann: Consistency Builds Confidence
Light Heavyweight Ryan Spann Hopes A Shift In Perspective Helps Him Put All His Tools Together As He Looks For A Bounce-Back Win At UFC Fight Night: Nicolau vs Erceg
Ryan Spann is in a great mood as he arrives at his interview with UFC.com. He is sporting a silk bonnet on his head, a red cape (a nod to his “Superman” moniker) and a pair of sunglasses. He is also rocking some all-black Air Force 1s (if you know, you know). For his first fight week since August 2023 and coming off a pair of losses, he’s in as chipper a mood as you could expect.
A big reason for that is a shift in perspective. After dropping a split decision to Anthony Smith in Singapore, Spann decided to take some time off to “build more consistency” in his training routine and day-to-day life. Part of that was looking at his career as just that: a career rather than a job.
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“A career is like something you get to do, and a job is something that you kind of have to do to make ends meet,” Spann explained during his time with UFC.com. “(You wake up) like, ‘Man, I got to go to work. I don’t want to do this,’ and it's like a job. I don’t want to have a job. I’d rather have a career, something that I can wake up and be passionate about and happy about because there was a time where this was fun for me and then it turned into a job.”
Spann admits he hasn’t seen mixed martial arts as a “career” since before his Octagon debut in September 2018. That said, he’s had his fair share of success under the UFC banner, collecting a 7-4 record including five finishes and wins over Dominick Reyes, Ion Cutelaba and Antônio Rogério Nogueira. Last year wasn’t his best, however, and he knew it was time for something different.
Results aside, the main spark for Spann to get back to that passionate and positive outlook on the fight game is his three children. Waking up when people are depending on you is a whole different level of motivation, but it is one that kept Spann committed to the change.
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“A lot of what they're learning is from me,” he said. “When I (would) look at them and I'd be disappointed or mad about something, I can't be mad at nobody but myself. I figure that if I make the changes in myself, I show my sons— I have two, actually my older one’s birthday is in a few days— so he's about to be 12. Really, that's really what started it. He’s getting older and I was like, ‘Man, I got to be there to show him what it is I want him to be or what I want to see from him,’ and the best way I can do that is be the example. The same (thing) with my youngest son. And then my daughter, I want her to see me interact with her mom, my wife, and know this is the type of man I would want to have, you know? So that's kind of what started it.”
Spann credits his teammates and coaches, from Charles Byrd, Sayif Saud and Uriah Hall, as well as his wife, mother and older brother, for keeping him accountable and supporting him on his climb toward increased consistency.
In his mind, each of his four losses were preventable. He and his support team believe the talent is there in spades, but putting that talent to best use is the last piece of the puzzle that will allow him to grow from a Top 10 presence to one in the title picture.
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“A smart man learns from his own mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others, so I try to talk to as many people as I can and really get as much as I can,” Spann said. “I don't necessarily always execute, but the knowledge is there, and the knowledge has been there. (My team) has been telling me this stuff for years. I've known, physically, I'm blessed. I was my own detriment, if that makes any sense. You know how Superman's only weakness comes from his planet, it was me that was holding me back and not allowing myself to do the things that I needed to do to be successful.”
After eight months of realigning priorities and his mindset, the 32-year-old isn’t getting too caught up in where he stands in the wide-open light heavyweight division. For the time being, he is focused on staying present. Just for fun, I ask him how he sees the rest of 2024 going should he beat Bogdan Guskov on April 27, and he quickly fires back:
“Didn’t I just say I was only focused on the present?”
The bright smile he flashed before the interview returns as I say he passed the test with flying colors. Spann, never one to focus much on his opponent, seems primed to make a big statement. He put the work in for the last few months, remarking that consistency builds his confidence.
The lessons from 2023 were put into action as the calendar turned over to 2024, and now it’s time to reap the benefits of that consistent work when he makes the walk at UFC Fight Night: Nicolau vs Perez.
“I couldn't care less what people think,” he said. “That's one thing that having this time off kind of helped me to realize is what they think doesn't matter. I'm not for the world. I really just want to please God and do a good job. I want to hear that from my God. That's I want to know: that I did a good job, and I was good.”
UFC Fight Night: Nicolau vs Perez took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 27, 2024. See the final Prelims and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
