Ryan Spann has already seen the unbeaten fighter across from him at UFC Paris get attention. Spann meets Mario Pinto on September 5 at Accor Arena, and his own read is simpler: the fight depends more on whether he stays locked in than on Pinto’s 12-0 record.
Pinto has framed the matchup as a chance to prove he belongs in the UFC heavyweight picture. MiddleEasy recently covered Pinto’s view of the Spann test, but Spann’s side of fight week has centered on the same internal problem he says has followed him for years.
“I’m not gonna let you get in your own way.”
Spann said that message came from strength and conditioning coach Mike Scaccia during camp. It landed because Spann has long believed his biggest opponent is his own focus.
“It’s all about me, man,” Spann said. “It’s The Ryan Spann Show; it’s always been The Ryan Spann Show. You bring up LFA days, and I said all the way back then —matter of fact, we can go back even further to the Legacy days: I remember saying after a fight back then that ‘I’m the only one that can beat me,’ and that’s a true statement.
“A big theme of what’s been going on for me this camp was not to let myself fall into the same grooves — and that’s what Scaccia alluded to when he said, ‘I’m not gonna let you get in your own way’ —and just to stay focused and stay locked in, and I feel like I’ve been able to do that.”
Spann is 2-1 since moving to heavyweight. He submitted Lukasz Brzeski in July 2025, then knocked out Marcus Buchecha in April 2026 after losing his divisional debut to Waldo Cortes Acosta. He said the difference is not a new physical tool as much as a steadier relationship with the gifts he already had.
“It’s all been here; this whole time,” Spann said. “I’ve been knowing who I am and who I could be — God showed me a long time ago what I’m capable of, and it’s been on me to stay focused. If I can stay focused, I can get all the things that are unfathomable to the regular mind. God can bless us with unfathomable things, so I just want to stay focused and get what I can get, be a light to the world. I don’t really stress or pressure too much on this —I just really want to be able to get what God has for me.”
Spann Sees Pinto’s Undefeated Record As A Target
Spann also admitted that taking Pinto’s zero would mean something to him. Pinto is 28 years old and unbeaten, while Spann knows what it feels like to lose that label.
“Homie deserves my absolute attention,” Spann said of Pinto. “I can give you the big iced-out smile for beating somebody that’s undefeated because me, personally, I know what that means. There is a little bit of petty in me where if I’m not allowed to be undefeated for how good I am, nobody gets to be undefeated.
“All due respect to him, I’ve gotta make him do something he’s never done, which is lose,” continued Spann. “I don’t know how everybody feels about that, but me personally, I know that I didn’t want mine to go when it left, and when it’s gone, you can’t get it back.”
The Paris card has multiple fighters trying to use the week as a career pivot. Punahele Soriano talked about staying under the radar before facing Daniil Donchenko, while Salahdine Parnasse used fight week to detail his Dan Hooker matchup and future goals. Spann’s version is less about chasing a statement and more about making sure he does not drift from the version that finished Brzeski and Buchecha.
“That’s easy —my people,” Spann said when asked what has kept him locked in. “They keep me locked in; they keep me focused. I thank God for the people that He’s put around me, in front of me, that help to uplift me. We don’t do this alone. Yeah, I get in there and fight by myself, but it’s a lot of work that goes into what we have to do. I feel like having everybody on the same goal, on the same path, going the same way, you become unstoppable, and that’s what I feel like we’re on the verge of reaching.
“We’re still not on the final form of The Ryan Spann Show yet.”
Before he gets there, Spann has to stop Pinto from extending an unbeaten run in one of the heavier fights on the UFC Paris lineup. Spann said the final instruction is the one his brother gives him before every fight.
“‘You show God you’re thankful by having fun,’ so that’s all —I just gotta go have fun, and that’s the same with every fight,” Spann said. “The fights where I don’t have fun, I don’t do well, and that usually stems from even before getting in there.”
“And I feel like we’re on track to have fun.”
