Kayla Harrison has had a change of opponents for her return to action at this year’s PFL Championship.
The former two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion had been scheduled for a featherweight fight opposite Julia Budd on November 25 in Washington, D.C. However, in a press release issued Wednesday, league officials announced that Harrison (15-1) would instead face UFC veteran Aspen Ladd (11-4).
According to league officials, “the change was made after Budd refused to fulfill her contractual obligation,” though exactly what obligation Budd failed to meet wasn’t specified.
Budd, a former Bellator MMA featherweight champ, gave a her response to the change. “I got pulled from the fight. No injury. Healthy and ready to fight,” she told Cageside Press’ Dylan Rush in a brief statement.
Kayla Harrison vs. Aspen Ladd will be held at a 150lb catchweight.
Harrison has not fought since her 2022 shock upset loss at the hands of Larissa Pacheco, the odds-on favorite to win it all in this year’s women’s featherweight division. The two-time PFL champ and two-time Olympic gold medalist had previously been undefeated in MMA.
Ladd is 2-1 under the PFL banner with wins over Budd and most recently, Karolina Sobek. That arm-bar finish wasn’t enough for Ladd to make the PFL 2023 post-season, however, as she went 1-1 in 2023 and came up just short in points.
The 2023 PFL Championship takes place on November 25, 2023 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. with all six weight classes closing out their season. The following match-ups have been announced for the card:
- Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Clay Collard — lightweight title fight
- Denis Goltsov vs. Renan Ferreira — heavyweight title fight
- Larissa Pacheco vs. Marina Mokhnatkina — women’s featherweight title fight
- Kayla Harrison vs. Aspen Ladd
- Sadibou Sy vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov — welterweight title fight
- Gabriel Braga vs. Jesus Pinedo — featherweight title fight
- Joshua Silveira vs. #3 Impa Kasanganay — light heavyweight title fight
- Ray Cooper III vs. Derek Brunson
- Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Joel Lopez — amateur bout
- Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade
- Khai Wu vs. Phil Caracappa
- Jesse Stirn vs. Josh Blyden
