Aspen Kohl Ladd (born March 1, 1995) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

who is competing in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

division of

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promo ...

(PFL). A professional since 2015, Ladd started her professional

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

career in

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

before competing in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC) in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

division.

Background

Ladd was born and grew up in Pioneer, California with two younger brothers and three younger sisters. The younger of her brothers, Shaylor, is also a mixed martial artist. After being

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

until then, Ladd briefly attended Folsom Lake College, but then terminated her studies to fully focus on her mixed martial arts career. Having previously danced

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and run long-distance, she started training martial arts around the age of 14 and made her amateur debut right after turning 18.

Mixed martial arts career

Invicta FC

Following an amateur run of 8–1, which included 6 finishes, Ladd signed with

in late 2014. Ladd was scheduled to make her professional debut against Kristi Lopez on February 27, 2015 at Invicta FC 11. However, Lopez suffered an injury in training and was replaced by decorated grappler

Ana Carolina Vidal Ana Carolina Vidal is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of Invicta. She is also won the World Nogi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship twice. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , ...

. Ladd won the fight via TKO in the first round. Ladd next faced Amanda Cooper on September 12, 2015 at Invicta FC 14. She submitted Cooper with an armbar towards the end of the second round. Ladd made her Bantamweight debut in a bout against Kelly McGill on March 11, 2016 at

Invicta FC 16 This is a list of events that Invicta Fighting Championships have held since their inaugural event, Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen. The promotion has held 55 events as of November 2022. Invicta FC 51: Tennant vs. Bernardo Invicta FC 51: Tennan ...

. She won the fight via TKO in third round. Ladd faced Jessica Hoy on July 29, 2016 at Invicta FC 18. During the weigh ins, Ladd missed weight, coming in 2.1 lbs over the bantamweight limit. She elected not to cut any additional weight and was fined 25 percent of her purse, which went to her opponent. The bout proceeded at a catchweight of 138.1 lbs. She won the fight via TKO in the second round. Ladd would make her final appearance for the promotion when she faced

Sijara Eubanks Sijara Jihan Eubanks (born April 27, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the women's bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Eubanks was born and raised in Springf ...

on January 14, 2017 at Invcita FC 21. She won the fight via unanimous decision, marking the first time Ladd had failed to finish her opponent in her professional career.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ladd was scheduled to make her UFC debut against

Jessica Eye Jessica Jo-Anne Eye (born July 27, 1986) is an American retired mixed martial artist. She competed as a flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Early life Jessica Eye was born in Akron, Ohio to Randy Allen and Colleen Joanne Eye. ...

on July 7, 2017 at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale. However, the day of the event Ladd fell ill and the bout was canceled. Ladd eventually made her UFC debut against Lina Länsberg on October 22, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 118. She won the bout via TKO in the second round Ladd was scheduled to face Leslie Smith on April 21, 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 128 ''UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 128'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 21, 2018, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Backgroun ...

. At the weigh-ins, Ladd weighed in at 137.8 lbs, 1.8 lbs over the bantamweight non-title fight upper limit of 136 lbs. Ladd offered Leslie an additional $5,000 on top of her 20% purse deduction. However, the fight was removed from the card after Smith refused to fight at catchweight. Ladd next faced former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion

Tonya Evinger Tonya Evinger (born June 4, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2006, Evinger has previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), EliteXC, Raging Wolf and Invicta Fighting Champi ...

on October 6, 2018 at

UFC 229 ''UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor ''was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that was held on October 6, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United St ...

. She won the fight via TKO in the first round. This win earned her the ''Performance of the Night'' award. Ladd was scheduled to face

Holly Holm Holly Rene Holm (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and a former professional boxer. She was a multiple-time wor ...

on March 2, 2019 at

UFC 235 ''UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on March 2, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area. Background A UFC Light Heavyweigh ...

. However, on January 31, 2019 it was reported the fight would no longer take place at the event. A rematch with

took place on May 18, 2019 at

UFC Fight Night 152 ''UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 152'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 10'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on May 18, 2019 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, ...

. She won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned her the ''Fight of the Night'' award. Ladd faced

Germaine de Randamie Germaine Martha de Randamie (born April 24, 1984) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. Undefeated in sanctioned kickboxing bouts, she competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was the first UFC Women's Featherwe ...

on July 13, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 155. At the weigh-ins for the event on July 12, Ladd attracted media attention for having a noticeably difficult weight cut which included her trembling on the scale and wincing in pain while weighing in and was described by a journalist covering the event as " ookinglike she was on the verge of a serious medical mishap." However, Ladd was cleared by the

California State Athletic Commission The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) regulates amateur and professional boxing, amateur and professional kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) throughout the State by licensing all participants and supervising the events. ...

to fight and hours later at the ceremonial weigh-ins she dismissed the seriousness of the situation by saying "I feel fantastic, now. I mean it’s always a little bit rough, that was particularly rough but I made it, I’m feeling good, and I’m ready for tomorrow." She lost the fight via technical knockout 16 seconds into round one, setting a women's bantamweight record and suffering her first professional loss. Despite initially accepting the loss in a post-fight interview, Ladd appealed it in October on the grounds of premature stoppage. However, the athletic commission voted 3–2 against the appeal, leaving the TKO loss intact. Ladd's bantamweight license was suspended by

after gaining 18 percent of her weight between weigh-ins and fight day against

UFC on ESPN+ 13 ''UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 155'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 13'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on July 13, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento ...

. "Extensive medical documentation" is needed to clear suspension. Ladd faced

Yana Kunitskaya Iana "Yana" Kunitskaya (born November 11, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 19, 2022, she is #6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings. ...

on December 7, 2019 at

UFC on ESPN 7 ''UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik'' (also known as '' UFC on ESPN 7'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 7, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., United States ...

. She won the fight via technical knockout in round three. Ladd was set to face

Julianna Peña Julianna Nicole Peña (born August 19, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Peña is th ...

on March 28, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 8. However, Peña pulled out of the fight in early March citing an injury. In turn, promotion officials elected to remove Ladd from the card entirely, and the pairing was expected to be rescheduled at a future event. Instead Ladd was scheduled to face

Sara McMann Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American female mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight division. McMann is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and was a ...

on June 27, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker. However, Ladd suffered a training injury, tearing both her ACL and

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

and was forced to withdraw from the event. Ladd was scheduled to face

Macy Chiasson Macy Chiasson (born July 27, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA). She was the Women's Featherweight winner of '' The Ultimate Fighter 28'' and currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ...

on July 24, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw. However, the bout was scrapped due to Chiasson suffering an injury. The bout was rescheduled to

UFC Fight Night 193 ''UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 193'', ''UFC Vegas 38'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 51'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 2, 2021 at the UFC ...

on October 2, 2021. At the weigh-ins, Ladd weighed in at 137 pounds, one pound over the bantamweight non-title limit; due to health concerns resulting from her weight cut, the bout against Chiasson was cancelled. Ladd faced

Norma Dumont Norma Dumont Viana Ferreira (born October 1, 1990) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist in the Featherweight division who fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of October 3, 2022, she is #13 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings. Ba ...

, replacing injured

, in a featherweight bout on October 16, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 195. She lost the fight via unanimous decision. Ladd was scheduled to face

Irene Aldana Irene Robles Aldana (born March 26, 1988) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Women’s Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of May 23, 2022, she is #4 in the UFC women ...

on April 9, 2022 at

UFC 273 ''UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 9, 2022, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Backgroun ...

. However, Aldana withdrew in late March for unknown reasons and was replaced by former

UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

challenger

Raquel Pennington Raquel Len Pennington (born September 5, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in Ultimate Fighting Championship women's featherweight division. She has previously fought for Invicta Fighting Championships. As of May 23, 2022, ...

. She lost the bout via unanimous decision. Ladd was scheduled to face

on August 13, 2022, at UFC on ESPN 41. However, Ladd was tested positive for COVID-19 and she was forced to withdraw from the event, and they were rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 210 on September 17. At the weigh-ins, Ladd weighed in at 138 pounds, two pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. As a result the bout was scrapped. After missing weight for the third time in her UFC career leading to a fight cancellation, Ladd was released from the UFC.

Professional Fighters League

After her UFC release, it was announced on October 4, 2022 that Ladd had signed with the

and would compete in the featherweight division the next year. Ladd faced

Julia Budd Julia Olivia Budd (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian kickboxer and mixed martial artist competing in the Women's Featherweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). She has fought in MMA promotions '' Strikeforce'' and ''Invicta Fighti ...

on November 25, 2022 at PFL 10. She won her promotional debut via split decision.

Personal life

Ladd is in a relationship with her MMA coach Jim West.

Championships and accomplishments

** Performance of the Night (One time) ** Fight of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 10–3 ,

, Decision (split) , PFL 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:33 ,

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, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:26 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 21: Anderson vs. Tweet , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Kansas City, Missouri, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jessica Hoy , TKO (elbows and punches) , Invicta FC 18: Grasso vs. Esquibel , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 , Kansas City, Missouri, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Kelly McGill , TKO (elbows and punches) , Invicta FC 16: Hamasaki vs. Brown , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:47 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Amanda Cooper , Submission (armbar) , Invicta FC 14: Evinger vs. Kianzad , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:42 , Kansas City, Missouri, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

, TKO (punches and elbows) , Invicta FC 11: Cyborg vs. Tweet , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:21 ,

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Roma Pawelek , Technical submission (guillotine choke) , Tuff-N-Uff - The Future Stars of MMA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:45 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 ,

Cynthia Calvillo Cynthia Tafoya Calvillo ( , born July 13, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight and flyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of August 15, 2022, she is #14 in the UFC women's flyweight ra ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladd, Aspen 1995 births Mixed martial artists from California People from Folsom, California American female mixed martial artists Living people Bantamweight mixed martial artists Flyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters 21st-century American women