“The game plan was to get a finish, but she’s a very good grappler. It’s not one-and-done when you get her down, or vice versa when she was shooting on me,” Ladd (12-5) said following the win, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press at the Accor Arena on Friday. “It wasn’t easy, and I didn’t expect it to be.”

Ladd, who bounced back from a loss to Kayla Harrison in the fight, noted that she came close to submitting Shakalova, but her opponent was just a little too wet to pull it off.

“I did some things well, I did some things not so well. Takeaway is more pressure sooner. But I was calm and I implemented what we were going for. Almost hit a good sub, but between the sweat and the blood it makes it hard to finish things. It was a heck of a fight, had fun doing it and came out on top.”

UFC vet Ladd, who arrived in France early to get a chance to see the sights and adjust to the time difference, was fighting out of the U.S. for just the second time at Bellator Paris. It’s an experience she enjoyed, and feels more people should strive for. And luckily, this time around she accounted for the time difference. “The first time we didn’t, we came in at like a normal time and that was when I fought in Poland, and the time difference messed me up. So this time we came out, I’ve been here nine days ow. So enough time to get acclimated.”

What she found in Paris defied expectations. “Being here, I think people have predispositions or believes of other places before they go. I think everyone needs to travel and see other people. Everybody I met in Paris, whether they speak English or don’t speak English, like we all spent time talking to each other and trying to communicate, and everybody’s very, very nice. It’s been amazing. That kind of community I don’t really see where I’m from, especially not in such a big city type of place. So I loved it, and the Paris crowd, loved the energy.”

Watch the full Bellator Parris post-fight media scrum with Aspen Ladd above.

The post Aspen Ladd Loved Energy of French Crowd at Bellator Paris appeared first on Cageside Press.

Headlined by a bantamweight title fight and rematch between Patchy Mix and Magomed Magomedov, the card was brimming with top French talent beyond the main event, including the return of kickboxer-turned-mixed martial artist Cedric Doumbe, making his Bellator debut. Already a mainstay under the PFL Europe banner, Doumbe was looking to shake off a bizarre loss in his last fight, when a splinter/debris in the cage had rendered him unable to continue.

At Bellator Paris, Doumbe was paired up with Jaleel Willis, who had nearly sparked a brawl at the card’s ceremonial weigh-ins a day earlier.

Where to Watch Bellator Champions Series 2

Friday’s Bellator Paris card in Paris, France airs live on HBO MAX in the U.S. and on Fight Network in Canada. Full results from the event, which gets underway at 12PM ET, can be found below.

Bellator Paris: Mix vs. Magomedov Full Results

Main card

The post Bellator Paris: Mix vs. Magomedov Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

That would be Ladd’s Bellator debut, a situation that came about after the PFL acquired Bellator MMA last year, then opted to drop the women’s featherweight division from their tournament format in favor of the flyweights.

Ladd admits that her initial reaction to the news was far from positive, having only been with the PFL a short time before the shake-up.

“The first reaction was disappointment because I’d just fought my first season, I’m used to how it works now, so like alright, go back for round two. So I was disappointed,” Ladd (11-5) told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “But then, I was curious more than anything else. Like how is it going to happen, is Bellator being absorbed? Are they running independently? Where am I fighting, how am I fighting? What are the rules I’m fighting under? So figuring out all that kind of took up my time, and it wasn’t disappointment, it was curiosity.”

Curious or not, however, Ladd would like to return to the PFL some day, and preferably soon, for another featherweight tournament.

“Ideally I’d like to see them do what they did with the 125’s last year, when they had the European season, they took the champion from that and threw her in the tournament this year,” Ladd exclaimed. “They took the best from the 125’ers in Bellator, threw them in the season. So I would like to see something similar to that with the 45’ers. Have us all fight it out, take the best of the best, throw us all in a season next year. That would be my perfect world, that would be ideal. But I really don’t know what’s going to happen basically.”

Aspen Ladd also touched on comparisons between herself and Abby from The Last of Us.

“It’s a flattering one honestly. It doesn’t bother me in the least,” said Ladd. “I’m not a gamer myself, but because I get called that on a daily basis, obviously I’m very aware of the character. And yeah, I can see the resemblance too.”

Watch our full interview with Bellator Paris featherweight Aspen Ladd above.

The post Aspen Ladd Hopes PFL Brings Women’s 145 Back Next Year appeared first on Cageside Press.

These days, Ladd is competing as a featherweight, after struggling with the weight cut to 135lbs for years. Coincidentally, she’s coming off a loss at featherweight to Kayla Harrison, who recently debuted in the UFC, making the drop to bantamweight and defeating ex-champ Holly Holm.

On that front, Ladd believes that Harrison is “about to take the 35 division in the UFC,” she stated during Tuesday’s Bellator Paris media day, speaking with journalists including Cageside Press.

Later, she would add that “I thought Kayla Harrison did exactly what I thought she was going to do. Especially when I heard the match-up, her first one. Obviously people think ‘oh that’s a tough fight’ or ‘Holly will do the same thing she did to Ronda [Rousey].’ Uh-uh. She rag-dolled her, and I thought she was going to. Made it look easy. There’s not currently anybody in that division that’s going to be able to beat her, in my opinion.”

As for the takeaways from her own fight with Harrison, “there’s definitely some introspection going on as far as any fights go, but that one, it’s ‘don’t take that level fight on short notice, with one of the best in the world.’ But at the same time, I don’t regret it. It’s a learning experience one way or the other.”

When it comes to the fight with Shakalova at Bellator Paris this Friday, however, the mission for Aspen Ladd is simple. “My entire goal is to get in and get out as fast as I possibly can.”

Ladd believes she’s the toughest test to date for Ekaterina Shakalova, she told Cageside Press. “I most definitely do. So far she’s been a dominant grappler and that’s how she wins her fights, and that’s where I’m world class. So she is not going to have a good night, but I’m sure she’ll continue to do well after.”

Watch the full Bellator Paris media day appearance by Aspen Ladd above.

The post Aspen Ladd Says There’s “Not Currently Anybody” in UFC Who Can Beat Kayla Harrison appeared first on Cageside Press.

Harrison, a two-time women’s lightweight champion, was returning to action for the first time since a shock upset against Larissa Pacheco at last year’s championship final. The loss to Pacheco, whom Harrison had defeated twice previously, was a surprise; that Harrison had not been seen since had been an outright shock.

But having missed an entire season — and a chance to compete as a featherweight, a division Harrison had competed in just once before, but that appears to be the future for the PFL — Harrison finally made her return on Friday.

The two-time Olympic gold medal winner looked sharp early, showing improved striking, and cracking Ladd’s face with a well-timed knee up against the fence. Ladd showed she could hang with Harrison on the ground, however, at one point reversing position, though the upper hand would not last long for the former UFC talent.

In the second round, it was a Harrison right hand followed by a takedown that left viewers with a sense of deja vu. Just a minute in, Harrison once again had the fight to the mat. Ladd had something of a guillotine opportunity off her back, with her corner directing her, but frankly, it was never close to being a threat.

Ladd would make it back up. Harrison would take it her back. Ladd made it up once again. A headlock and throw saw Ladd planted on her back once again. The same old story for Kayla Harrison, who dominant judo had been a puzzle only Pacheco had managed to solve to date.

At the end of the round, Kayla Harrison had an arm-triangle choke set up. Time ran out, however, before she could step across Ladd and get in position to finish it.

Harrison’s jab was on display in the third; her left hand connected flush as Aspen Ladd walked forward. When they went to the ground, Ladd managed a slick reversal — and briefly took Kayla Harrison’s back! Not for long, however, as Harrison quickly got back in the driver’s seat, moving to side control with Ladd against the fence.

Ladd would make it to her feet. But time was ticking away, in a fight that Harrison had controlled the majority of. A knee to Ladd connected with just over a minute to go. Harrison managed to get Ladd to her knees, and poured on some ground n’ found. A gutsy Aspen Ladd would make it back to her feet one last time, and make it to the final bell — but Kayla Harrison’s return was nothing if not successful.

Official Result: Kayla Harrison def. Aspen Ladd by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post Kayla Harrison Returns, Dominates Aspen Ladd at 2023 PFL Championship appeared first on Cageside Press.

In the main event, Canada’s Olivier Aubin-Mercier was set to defend his lightweight championship against Clay Collard, with OAM looking to win back-to-back championships ahead of a planned extended layoff. Heavyweights Renan Ferreira and Denis Goltsov anchored the co-main event, while Larissa Pacheco squared off with Marina Mokhnatkina in an attempt to become the PFL’s first two-division champion: having won at lightweight last year, Pacheco was now competing at 145lbs.

Kayla Harrison, meanwhile, was set to take on short-notice opponent Aspen Ladd earlier in the evening, looking to bounce back from a shock loss to Pacheco in last year’s lightweight final.

Weigh-ins for the PFL Championship 2023 card took place Thursday in Washington, D.C. Results can be found below.

PFL Championship 2023 Weigh-In Results

Main card

Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (154.8) vs. Clay Collard (154.8) — lightweight title fight
Heavyweight: Renan Ferreira (266.2) vs. Denis Goltsov (244.6) — heavyweight title fight
Women’s Featherweight: Larissa Pacheco (145) vs. Marina Mokhnatkina (144.4) — women’s featherweight title fight
Welterweight: Magomed Magomedkerimov (170) vs. Sadibou Sy (169.8) — welterweight title fight
Light Heavyweight: Josh Silveira (202.6) vs. Impa Kasanganay (203.4) — light heavyweight title fight
Catchweight (150lb): Kayla Harrison (150.4) vs. Aspen Ladd (150)
Middleweight: Ray Cooper III (186.8)* vs. Derek Brunson (185.8)

Preliminary card

Featherweight: Jesus Pinedo (145) vs. Gabriel Alves Braga (144.6) — featherweight title fight
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh (155.8) vs. Joel Galarza Lopez (154.2) — Amateur bout
Featherweight: Bubba Jenkins (145) vs. Chris Wade (148.4)**
Bantamweight: Phil Caracappa (135.6) vs. Khai Wu (135.4)
Featherweight: Jesse Stirn (145.6) vs. Josh Blyden (146.8)***

* Cooper will forfeit 20% of his purse to Brunson after missing weight by 0.8lbs

** Wade missed weight by 2.4lbs — bout has been cancelled

*** Blyden missed weight by 0.8lbs, will forfeit 20% of his purse to Stirn

The post PFL Championship 2023 Weigh-In Results — All Title Fights Official, Three Others Heavy appeared first on Cageside Press.

Two-time champion Kayla Harrison went (virtually) face-to-face with her new opponent Aspen Ladd who it was announced was replacing Julia Budd last week.  While the other featherweights on the call had plenty to say to each other, Ladd and Harrison were cordial and never met in a war of words during the call.

Harrison, who will be making her first appearance of 2023, took the time to explain what the last twelve months outside of the cage has been like for her after having been an active competitor going back to her time as an Olympic hopeful.  An outspoken survivor of sexual abuse, Harrison has recently used her platform on social media to bring attention back to her book Fighting Back and to promote her charitable organization, The Fearless Foundation, which helps survivors of sexual abuse.

“I also believe that everything happens for a reason and I’ve been given this platform for a reason. To not use it to make a difference in the world would be a crime.  So I do want to shine a light on what child sexual abuse is. I do want to help make a difference in people’s lives and I do want to help kids not only survive but thrive and overcome. I want them to know most importantly that they’re not alone.”

Also on the call was lightweight standout Clay Collard who missed the last call where he would have been opposite defending champion Olivier Aubin-Mericier ahead of the final.  Collard, who had been eliminated from the playoffs last year, discussed the opportunity to be the one to hand Aubin-Mercier his first loss in the PFL cage.

“I just gotta be me man.  I’ve been calling it since the beginning of the year that it was going to be me and him in the finals. I’ve got my eye on him. I’ve got him figured out and I think I’m the man to beat him. I’ve just gotta be me.”

Kicking off the conversation were featherweight rivals Bubba Jenkins and Chris Wade who will meet for the third time in their careers.  The pair have split their first two meetings with Wade winning their first matchup in 2021 while Jenkins eliminated Wade from the tournament in their meeting last year.  Jenkins in particularly wasted little time in stoking the flames for the trilogy in stating:

“I’m completely focused on (Wade) for this fight.  Next time you all want to do an interview with us together maybe call me after he’s done because I can not stand hearing this dude’s voice talk.  He is a terrible interview and this is dry and I’m already ready to go to sleep.”

The PFL World Championships will take place on November 24 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.

The post Highlights From the 2023 PFL Championships Featherweight Conference Call appeared first on Cageside Press.

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.

The post Aspen Ladd Expecting Kayla Harrison to Have Some Urgency at PFL Championship appeared first on Cageside Press.

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

The post Aspen Ladd in Against Kayla Harrison at PFL Championship, Julia Budd Responds appeared first on Cageside Press.

While the fight isn’t exactly a short turnaround, since Ladd has known the date of the fight for a while now, there’s still a relatively small window between her first fight in April, and the meeting with Sobek.

Luckily for Ladd, now competing as a featherweight, she’s no longer killing herself to make 135lbs.

“I don’t really get out of the gym anyway after the fight. With this one, the only difference is when I got home, I got really sick right away, so I had a week where I had to take it easy,” Ladd (10-4) told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “It’s a little bit different for me at 45. I’m not dying to make the weight class. So it’s just staying basically in the gym and keeping your diet at a maintenance level.”

When it comes to Sobek, Ladd will have a definite edge in both experience and level of competition. “Everybody in the tournament has something that they’re good at, but I have quite a bit of experience,” Ladd noted. “And I think that’ll always be a benefit.”

On the flip side, Ladd, who only found out who her opponent was a couple weeks back, tried “not to get too caught up on the individual. Now I know, and my coaches have looked her up and that kind of stuff.”

Having lost a decision against Olena Kolesnyk at PFL 2, however, the points system employed by the PFL is now a huge factor. And added pressure.

“That’s definitely a new thing. You won’t face that anywhere else but the PFL. The pressure to go out and not only get the job done, but get it done in a certain period of time in order to get the most points and move forward, that is an added pressure. But any fight’s a bunch of pressure. So just a little extra.”

That said, Ladd knows she likely needs six points to move forward into the playoffs, which means a first-round finish. Which has shaped how she views this fight.

“It’s a very big deal to get as many points as possible. The whole point of the fight is to be able to go out and basically treat it like a five minute fight,” Ladd told us. “So hopefully she wants to fight and if not, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out and make it happen.”

2023 has been the biggest year to date for the PFL, who have signed the likes of Jake Paul, Cedric Doumbe, and Francis Ngannou. Moving forward, the Super-Fight division, and Pay-Per-View offerings, are anticipated. With Ladd’s profile, there’s always a chance she could be involved, as she was last year in a showcase fight with Julia Budd.

“I haven’t thought about it too much yet, as far as ‘oh I want to get on a massive card with these dudes.’ Because right now my whole focus is on the tournament. But I’m more of a, they say ‘you fight this date, you fight this date.’ If you end up getting on a giant card with those guys, like sweet! It’s an added bonus, it’s a benefit.”

Watch our full interview with 2023 PFL 5’s Aspen Ladd above.

The post Aspen Ladd Treating PFL 5 Match-Up with Karolina Sobek As a Five Minute Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.