Aspen Ladd signs with PFL after being released from the UFC
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Image Credit: Instagram: @pflmma
Just a week after being released from the UFC, Aspen Ladd has now found a home in the Professional Fighters League aka PFL. On October 4th 2022, the promotion announced that they secured a deal with Ladd for her to compete at Featherweight.
In 2023, the PFL is expected to launch a women’s featherweight season, and with Ladd’s inclusion, the competition only gets better. While the promotion seemed excited announcing this move on Twitter, Ladd too expressed her happiness on signing with PFL.
In a statement, she said, “I want to thank the Professional Fighters League for giving me the opportunity to continue my career in the PFL SmartCage. I am excited about the PFL’s sport season format where you win and advance based on talent and merit. I look forward to testing myself against the best women’s featherweights in the world.” [H/T MMA Junkie]
While this won’t be a debut at 145 for Ladd, the former UFC fighter will be happy moving up a weight class. Previously, she has had her struggles making 135, which also saw her get cut from the UFC.
Dana White speaks about releasing Aspen Ladd from the UFC
Aspen Ladd’s career in the UFC has been highlighted due to her missing weight. In her time with the promotion, Ladd missed weight thrice. Most recently, her bout with Sara McMann had to be scrapped as Ladd missed weight by two pounds.
The 27-year-old’s weight cut was stopped by the commission officials. With this being the third time Ladd missed weight, the UFC seemed to have enough and eventually cut the fighter from the promotion.
Commenting on releasing Aspen Ladd, UFC President Dana White said, “We tried to work with her. She’s a great kid. She’s a really nice person. It’s never fun when you have somebody who’s actually talented. She’s a talented fighter, but part of the job is making weight. She’s not made weight so many times, it just had to happen. Not something you want to do, but something that had to be done.”
While Aspen Ladd’s career in the UFC might have not finished the way she dreamt, the fighter now has an opportunity to make a name for herself at PFL. It will be interesting to see how Ladd deals with this transition in her career.
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Varun Anand Bhat
(106 Articles Published)