Anthony Smith says he has squashed his beef with Ryan Spann

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith says he has squashed his beef with Ryan Spann following their recent fight at UFC Vegas 37.

Smith finished Spann in the first round of their main event fight by submission after knocking his opponent down twice prior to choking him out. It was an incredible performance by Smith, who was fighting with a lot of emotion in the cage on Saturday night. Heading into this fight, Spann had some negative things to say about Smith, and “Lionheart” was not thrilled with that. At the end of the day, however, Smith got the last laugh when he entered the Octagon and took care of business with his rival Spann.

Following the fight, there was a brief altercation between Smith and Spann inside the Octagon, but it quickly died down, and then the two embraced. Speaking to reporters following UFC Vegas 37, Smith admitted that he was not happy with the disrespect shown by Spann ahead of their fight, but now that it’s over, Smith says the beef is squashed.

“It’s nothing personal at this point. I feel like I squashed it. I did what I had to do and I think we dealt with it in the cage afterwards. Him and his coach came over and they said what they said and I said what I said and we move on. I don’t hold any ill will towards them. I’m moving on, and see you later,” Smith said (via MMAjunkie.com).

“I’m glad we did it right away. I think I would’ve felt bad afterwards. A lot of that stuff – there’s adrenaline, there’s a lot of testosterone flowing in there, there’s a lot of emotions. It was a big fight for both of us. They were upset. Let’s not pretend Ryan Spann wasn’t going to rub that sh*t in my face if he beat me. I wasn’t even trying to throw it in his face. That was just my initial reaction. The second he tapped and the ref pulled me off, my initial reaction was, ‘Where was that ass-whooping you promised me?’ That was my initial thought that was running through my head since he said it.”

What do you think is next for Anthony Smith after beating Ryan Spann at UFC Vegas 37?