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Aspen Ladd has reportedly been cut from the UFC after her latest weight miss debacle. The 27-year-old missed weight by 2 pounds for her scheduled women's bantamweight bout against Sara McMann at UFC Vegas 60 on September 17. She weighed in at 138 pounds, 2 pounds above the limit for non-title bantamweight fights.
On that note, as reported by the UFC Roster Watch Twitter account, Aspen Ladd is no longer a part of the UFC roster. Despite being regarded as one of the most talented young fighters in women's MMA, Aspen Ladd has also been the recipient of widespread criticism due to having missed weight on multiple occasions.
Back in July 2016, Ladd weighed in at 138.1 pounds for her bantamweight bout against Jessica Hoy in Invicta. In April 2018, Ladd weighed in at 137.8 pounds for her bantamweight bout against Leslie Smith at a UFC Fight Night event. The bout was ultimately canceled.
Additionally, in July 2019, Ladd immensely struggled to make the bantamweight limit for her fight against Germaine de Randamie. The CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) later revealed that Ladd gained 18 percent of her weight between the weigh-ins and her fight.
CSAC suspended Ladd's bantamweight license and notified her that extensive medical documentation would be needed to clear the suspension.
In October 2021, Aspen Ladd weighed in at 137 pounds for her bantamweight bout against Macy Chiasson, with the fight resultantly being canceled. Ladd's latest weight miss came ahead of her fight against Sara McMann earlier this month, with the matchup later being canceled.
When Dana White justified booking Aspen Ladd in a main event after missing weight
While Aspen Ladd is likely to move on to Bellator, PFL, or other MMA organizations, she was once considered to be a potential future star for the UFC. As recently as October 2021, Ladd was accorded a main event spot just a couple of weeks after missing weight.
Ladd missed weight for her bantamweight matchup against Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 38. However, just 14 days later, Ladd was booked in a featherweight bout against Norma Dumont to headline UFC Vegas 40. Justifying Ladd's main event booking despite her missing weight, UFC president Dana White notably stated:
"We're not rewarding her. She's moving up in a weight class. She's moving up to 145lbs. If we kept her at 135 and gave her a main event, that would make sense. The girl is in shape, she's here to fight, she didn't make weight, but she is going to move up a weight class now. I don't think we're rewarding her."
Watch White's assessment below:
