Aspen Ladd sees her MMA career as a marathon, so she wasn’t too shaken by her first-ever loss as a pro, to Germaine de Randamie.
Washington, D.C. — Bantamweight prospect Aspen Ladd (8-1) came into the UFC with a big head of steam. Looking to graduate from prospect to contender after three straight octagon wins, Ladd suffered her first setback when Germain de Randamie knocked her out in sixteen seconds at UFC Sacramento.
That was this past July. Ladd gets back on the horse this weekend at UFC on ESPN 7, taking on Yana Kunitskaya.
As far as the loss to de Randamie, it wasn’t hard to bounce back for Ladd, in terms of the mental aspect. “I kind of look at this thing regardless as ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint,'” she told media outlets including Cageside Press on Thursday. “It’s a rough night, don’t get me wrong, it’s not fun. Nobody likes to lose, and this is your career, your job. But at the same time, you can’t get too head-case-y over it, because at that point it’s just on to the next. You’ve got to get ready and get back on the horse.”
Aside from her first career loss, weight was the other question Thursday. The weight cut is “pretty darn good” this week, she said. “We woke up at 143.4, still hydrated. I’m going to go cut after this. Rest all day, and go heat off the rest if there is any.”
The question of Ladd’s weight always seems to be a talking point. She struggled but did make weight for her previous fight. After the fact, however, the CSAC temporarily suspended her license after she ballooned up a full 18lbs between weigh-in and fight night.
“It’s kind of like a redundant question,” said Ladd, while admitting that her last cut was rough. Like, ‘how do you feel in fight week?’ You hear it five million times. So it’s kinda boring.”
However, Ladd did make some changes “as far as working better with my personal team and the PI [Performance Institute],” she admitted. “And it’s been working great.”
Fans will know for sure Friday morning when Aspen Ladd and the rest of the UFC DC card hit the scales.
Watch the full UFC DC media day press scrum with Aspen Ladd above!
