UFC Predictions: UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic

#2. UFC light heavyweight division: Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba

While the stakes in this light heavyweight bout aren’t nearly as high as the ones in the headliner, there’s definitely a chance that this could actually prove to be the more exciting fight on the night.

After all, while Ryan Spann and Ion Cutelaba aren’t the best 205lbers in the UFC, they do have six octagon finishes between them and they’ve also been finished on six occasions combined, too.

Cutelaba is perhaps the wildest fighter in the entire division when you consider the whole package. ‘The Hulk’ came into the UFC with a reputation as a brute wrestler, but he’s also a highly-effective striker, even if he’s technically not great on the feet.

The native of Moldova swings incredibly heavy shots, he’s ridiculously aggressive, and with his wrestling to fall back on, he’s a danger to any fighter he faces. Sure, he tends to gas out and isn’t the most durable, but if he was, he’d probably be holding the title right now.

Spann, meanwhile, is a lanky fighter with a ridiculous 81.5” reach. He uses that to the best of his ability, tending to fight behind a jab which sets up his bigger strikes. He’s scored KOs of Misha Cirkunov and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and also had Johnny Walker on the ropes before a surprising turnaround.

Ignoring his rear-naked choke loss to Anthony Smith, which appeared to come from the fact that Spann choked in his first headline bout, that Walker fight probably explains why ‘Superman’ hasn’t quite reached the top of the division yet.

Simply put, he doesn’t appear to be the most durable fighter in the division, as three of his five losses have come via knockout, with his defeat to Walker coming from some odd elbows that didn’t really appear to land that cleanly.

Given Cutelaba’s wild aggression, then, the most likely outcome here seems to be that ‘The Hulk’ will rush Spann early and probably pick up a finish. If he doesn’t, then ‘Superman’ has the skills to win, but even then, Cutelaba’s power is hard to argue with.

The Pick: Cutelaba via first-round KO