Aspen Ladd doesn’t know much more than the rest of us about why Julia Budd is out, and Ladd herself in against Kayla Harrison at the PFL Championship later this month.
Ladd (11-4) spoke to Cageside Press in the days following the switch, explaining that she was “very excited” to face Harrison, seen for years as the face of the PFL. “Basically on edge last Friday, we got the call late Friday night, it got confirmed whenever the news broke, a day, day and a half ago,” stated Ladd.
When it comes to the situation — the PFL issued a statement saying Budd had not fulfilled her contractual obligations and later released the featherweight, while Budd herself told Cageside Press she was ready to fight — “we weren’t told anything. Just that her manager, I think her manager and her husband are the same person, I could be wrong but I’m not sure— just that according to him, communicating with PFL, that they were 50/50 that they were pulling out of the fight,” Ladd explained. “That’s when they contacted us on Friday night. So that’s all we were told, I just assumed injury. You usually do — ‘oh, something happened, she got hurt.'”
There’s no doubt more to the story (PFL officials declined to elaborate on the situation beyond their original statement when reached for comment by Cageside Press), but none of that is likely to matter much to Aspen Ladd, who now has a big opportunity in front of her. As it turns out, she had been training as a back-up for the fight, but come the end of October, had believed her services would not be required.
“It was actually til the end of October, they basically told me to stay ready for this particular fight in case something was to happen.” After a certain point, Ladd had the option to take another fight in another discipline.
Then came the call to fight Harrison at a 150lb catchweight. Which was not a request on Ladd’s part, she added. “So when they called on Friday, PFL offered it at that [weight] immediately, and I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. We were preparing to make 145 on that date just in case but if you don’t have to, why not? Not something we asked for but it was a gift that was given.”
Aspen Ladd’s struggles to make weight in the UFC were well-documented; comparatively speaking, she has breezed through her PFL contests thus far.
“It’s been less than a year and I’ve made 45 four times and I’m healthy. I’m healthy and I’m able to do it again,” she pointed out. “Not having to recover from horrendous weight cuts every time is huge on just being able to fight more often and enjoying life more.”
Come November 24 in Washington, D.C. at the PFL Championship, Aspen Ladd is expecting to see a motivated Kayla Harrison. Especially coming off a loss a year ago to Larissa Pacheco.
“I would expect her to come out with more urgency honestly. You’re trying to get that back, get rid of the bad taste in your mouth kind of thing. I would expect her to come out wanting to do that, wanting to right her last wrong basically. I could be wrong, that could just be me, but that’s what I would expect to be a little different with her.”
Regardless, Ladd is ready to take on the face of the company. “She’s been the golden girl, the queen of this promotion forever. It’s different because of the way it works here with belts, tournaments but she’s still the face of it. She’s a very accomplished, great record. So yeah, it’s a big fight.”
Watch our full interview with PFL featherweight Aspen Ladd above.
