“She was trying not to cry there.”
Aspen Ladd is a fighter that could go all the way to the top, if she can only get a handle on her weight cuts.
The 23-year-old from California is 6-0-0 in her professional MMA career and, at UFC 229, is set to take on Tonya Evinger, who was last in The Octagon against none other than Cris Cyborg.
Ladd blew all comers aside in her five Invicta FC bouts (three TKOs, one submission) and beat Lina Lansberg by TKO, in Poland, last October. Her only problem is making weight.
The bantamweight failed to do so twice since joining the UFC and blamed ‘certain female circumstances’ after coming in 1.8lbs over the cut-off for an April fight against Leslie Smith. Ladd offered Smith $5,000 on top of the 20% purse deduction (from her pay) that her opponent would have been entitled to. Smith refused and the fight was off.
Six months later and Ladd desperately needed to make 125lbs. The likes of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov had already been through the room and, with 45 minutes before the deadline, only Ladd and Anthony Pettis had not stepped on the scales.
Ladd was first to entire and required a discretionary UFC tube (a sturdy version of the branded towels the used to use) to disrobe. She stepped on the scales, was asked to readjust her feet but came in at 134.5lbs.
The fight was on but there was still a bit of drama.
Credit: ESPN (via Twitter)Taking a sip of water, to rehydrate, Ladd looked more than a bit emotional.
“She’s trying not to cry,” said ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “That [weigh-in] was the one you hate to see.
“She needed to be helped onto the scale.”
MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi was not happy that Ladd was required to pose for pictures after that rigmarole. “Forget the photo opp,” he remarked. “Can we get the girl some food and a drink of water?!”
Ladd was relieved to make weight and the next 30-32 hours will see her trying to gain close to a stone in weight and rehydrate correctly, and safely. A win over Evinger could propel her into the bantamweight title picture.
Pettis arrived soon after and made 156lbs, meaning he was given the all-clear to fight Tony Ferguson.
