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#2 Aspen Ladd
Women’s Bantamweight has been a division which has struggled for traction largely since Ronda Rousey’s downfall in late 2015. Sure, the title picture has remained pretty constant, with champion Amanda Nunes fending off the likes of Valentina Shevchenko and Raquel Pennington, but prospects have been hard to come by and most of the top ten have been there for some time.
That’s why Aspen Ladd is such an exciting prospect to keep an eye on. Currently ranked at #7, Ladd holds a record of 7-0 and her most recent victory came over longtime veteran Tonya Evinger at UFC 229 with a rousing first round TKO. That win shocked some, but then Ladd is more experienced than her record suggests – she also holds an 8-1 amateur record, too.
A powerful grappler with devastating ground-and-pound, the only issue Ladd has had in her career thus far has been with her weight – she missed the 135lbs mark in April, causing her fight with Leslie Smith to be cancelled – but if she can keep that in check then the sky is the limit. If she can get past Holly Holm in their prospected March fight, then a title shot could be in her future for sure.
