By The Numbers: Ion Cutelaba vs. Ryan Spann

Neither Ion Cutelaba nor Ryan Spann plan to shrink when confronted with a harsher Ultimate Fighting Championship spotlight, as they will do battle in the UFC on ESPN 36 co-main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The encounter brims with opportunity.

Cutelaba has compiled a 5-5-1 record across his 11 assignments inside the Octagon. The tightly wound Moldovan last competed at UFC Fight Night 192, where he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Devin Clark in September. Spann, meanwhile, has won nine of his past 11 bouts. The Fortis MMA export last appeared on Sept. 18, when he submitted to a rear-naked choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night “Smith vs. Spann” headliner.

As Cutelaba and Spann march toward their battleground, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

28: Years of age for Cutelaba, who was born on Dec. 14, 1993 in Chisinau, Moldova.

12: Cutelaba wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 75% of his career total (16). His list of UFC victims: Khalil Rountree, Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Henrique da Silva . Cutelaba holds two other wins by submission and two more by decision.

7: Sub-minute finishes on the Cutelaba resume, highlighted by his seven-second knockout of Alexandru Stoica at World Warriors Fighting Championship “Cage Encounter 1” on June 14, 2014 and an eight-second knockout of Malik Merad at WWFC “Cage Encounter 4” on Sept. 19, 2015.

10: Consecutive calendar years in which Cutelaba has fought at least once. He went 3-0 in 2012, 2-1 with one no contest in 2013, 3-0 in 2014, 3-0 in 2015, 1-2 in 2016, 1-0 in 2017, 1-0 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019, 0-2 in 2020 and 1-0-1 in 2021.

.767: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Magomed Ankalaev (twice), Glover Teixeira, Jared Cannonier, Misha Cirkunov and Michal Andryszak—who have defeated Cutelaba. They own a combined record of 102-31.

30: Years of age for Spann, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee on Aug. 24, 1991.

11: Spann wins by submission, accounting for 58% of his career total (19). His methods of choice: eight guillotine chokes and three rear-naked chokes. Spann owns five other wins by knockout or technical knockout and three more by decision.

8: Seconds needed for Spann to flatten Larry Crowe with punches at Legacy Fighting Championship 42 on June 26, 2015. Having occurred nearly seven years ago, it remains his fastest finish to date.

5: Light heavyweight champions, including Spann, in the history of the Legacy Fighting Alliance organization. Julius Anglickas, Alex Polizzi, Fabio Cherant and Joshua Silveira are the others.

106: Combined victories between the seven opponents—Smith, Johnny Walker, Karl Roberson, Trevin Giles, Robert Drysdale, Leo Leite and Brandon Farran—who have beaten Spann. They boast a cumulative .697 winning percentage (106-46).