Originally posted on 07/19/2017:
I obviously agree with the sentiment because I got scared and did arb out a little. But I still think Spohn has the skillset and the size advantage to justify being a 2-1 favorite. The only reason why he almost lost is because he fought the exact way he shouldn't have fought until getting saved by the ref. DeAnda has obviously zero submission defense or grappling ability, which is clear from tape and from the end of the fight. Yet Spohn went out there to try to KO him standing, exposing himself to danger, and making sure to give DeAnda the only path to victory.
I think this has got to have something to do with the fact that Thanh Le and O'Malley got big KO victories. He wanted one of his own similar to the victory he got on TUF. Ground and pound or a sub wasn't good enough at that point. Only after almost losing did he snap out of it and go for the takedown/sub.
I think the lesson learned is that, while some guys don't always fight how they SHOULD fight to win even when there are win bonuses and there's not this artificial "win in a way to impress Dana White" dynamic, we should come to expect the unexpected from them. At least in the later fights.