Mario Pinto Stops Ryan Spann by Second-Round TKO at UFC Paris
Mario Pinto stayed unbeaten on Saturday, stopping Ryan Spann by TKO at 0:55 of Round 2 at UFC Paris. The Portuguese heavyweight absorbed an early knockdown, then finished the veteran with punches on the prelims of UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs. Parnasse.
The official result came at Accor Arena. Pinto entered 12-0 and 3-0 in the UFC. Spann came in 24-11 and 10-6 inside the Octagon.
Pinto, 28, was born in Portugal, moved to Britain as a child, and trains at FightZone London. He stands 6-foot-5 with a 79-inch reach and earned his UFC contract by stopping Lucas Camacho on Dana White’s Contender Series in October 2024.
His Octagon run has been clean. He knocked out Austen Lane at 0:39 of Round 2 in his debut on March 1, 2025, then stopped Jhonata Diniz by TKO at 4:10 of Round 2 in Rio de Janeiro last October.
In March, he went the distance for the first time in the UFC and beat Felipe Franco by unanimous decision in London. That made him 3-0 in the promotion before Saturday.
Spann, 35, is a former light heavyweight who moved to heavyweight in 2025. Nicknamed Superman, he fights out of Fortis MMA and had finished his last two opponents.
He submitted Lukasz Brzeski with a first-round guillotine at UFC 318 on July 19, 2025. On April 25, he knocked out Marcus Buchecha at 2:10 of Round 2 and took a Performance of the Night bonus.
His only heavyweight loss before Paris was a second-round knockout to Waldo Cortes-Acosta on March 15, 2025. Pinto was the bigger test on paper, and the betting line had the unbeaten prospect as a sizable favorite.
Referee Marc Goddard started the 265-pound bout. Spann made it look dangerous immediately, landing hooks with both hands and dropping Pinto with an uppercut.
Pinto got to his feet and walked into a guillotine. Spann gave up the choke, ate return fire, and backed off as both men swung in the pocket.
They clinched, and Spann found knees to the body. Pinto answered with a right hook, then pressed Spann into the fence and scored with knees to the inner thigh before the round ended.
Round 2 did not last. Pinto finished it with punches at 0:55, giving him the TKO and his eighth career knockout or TKO.
He is now 13-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC. Four of those UFC wins have come inside two rounds.
Spann falls to 24-12 and 10-7 in the promotion. The loss snaps a two-fight winning streak and drops him to 2-2 at heavyweight.
The first round showed why Pinto called Spann a real test before the fight. “It’s a good challenge for me,” Pinto said. “We’re both well-rounded, same height, same reach. He’s definitely got the experience on me – I can’t take that away from him. But it’s just a new challenge for me, and I’ve got to get through Ryan Spann.”
He got through it after being put on the canvas. A second-round TKO of a veteran with 35 professional fights will not by itself put Pinto into the official UFC heavyweight rankings, but it keeps him unbeaten against the most experienced opponent of his career.
Pinto will wait for the UFC to book his fifth fight in the promotion as the rest of the Paris card continues Saturday.