The best and worst from UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik

#2 Best: Ladd’s rush of violence nets her a big win

Aspen Ladd finished Yana Kunitskaya with a sudden rush of violence

The Women’s Bantamweight fight between Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya was probably the most dull on the main card – until the crazy third round finish from Ladd. Prior to that, the 24-year old Ladd seemed content to attempt to clinch with her Russian opponent, and it honestly wasn’t working – she couldn’t really get Kunitskaya to the ground and while the rounds were even, it seemed like anyone’s fight.

Ladd’s coach gave her a major motivational speech after the second round though, and it clearly worked; she came out with insane aggression in the third, decked ‘Foxy’ with a left hand and then finished her off with some savage ground-and-pound just seconds later. This was arguably an even better finish than her TKO of Tonya Evinger last year.

Where does Ladd go from here? Well, her loss to Germaine de Randamie was bad, but there was an argument that it was an early referee stoppage, and of course ‘The Iron Lady’ is now about to get a title shot. One more win could well net Ladd a shot at Amanda Nunes – and with her ground-based assault she’d be an interesting match for ‘The Lioness’, meaning the UFC should aim for a fight between the two in 2020.