Ryan Spann was rightfully emotional when he found out that his main event bout with Nikita Krylov was cancelled.
As the main card of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 70 event began, it was revealed that Krylov suffered a food-borne illness, and the fight with Spann was cancelled. Minutes later, Spann did a media scrum reacting to the news.
“Yeah, I got one [word]: f***,” Spann told reporters (video courtesy of MMA Mania). “I was peeing [when I found out]. I had [the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] with me, my coach comes storming in yelling for me, and it was him, [UFC Chief Business Officer] Hunter [Campbell], and [UFC Matchmaker] Sean [Shelby] that let me know that I wasn’t going to be able to fight.”
Spann had entered the bout on a two-fight finishing streak, and with the light heavyweight division in a weird place, a victory on Saturday could given him a No. 1 contender bout later in the year.
Now, “Superman” will have to wait to see what is next. As he answered questions, he teared up as he talked about how much his coach and team at Fortis MMA had helped him get ready.
“I wouldn’t call it a wasted camp, because we weren’t training for this specific fight,” Spann said. “We were in champ camp. The plan was to go back to work Monday either way, so I guess that’s what we’re going to have to do.
“The disappointment comes from me not being able to show off some of the s*** that we’ve been doing. My team invested a lot of time in me, and I wanted to be able to pay them back with a beautiful performance.”
Spann also said he got the chance to speak with Krylov at the UFC APEX to make it clear that his anger about the situation was about not being able to fight – not at Krylov specifically.
“I stepped in to see him and I let him know that — and I was doing a lot of cussing and fussing — but I let him know it had nothing to do with him,” Spann explained. “S*** happens, it’s just…f***.
“I don’t know [where I go from here], I’m still trying to process what’s going on. My coach, that’s what he does best so I’ll leave that up to him.”