UFC President Dana White wasn’t thrilled about having to cut Aspen Ladd from contract. But after several misses on the scale, he indicated the promotion’s hands were tied.
White dismissed the possibility of again sending Ladd back to the featherweight division after her third miss at bantamweight and said the “talented” fighter simply had run out of chances.
“We tried to work with her – she’s a great kid,” White said at the post-fight press conference for the DWCS Season 6 finale on Tuesday. “It’s never fun when you have somebody who’s actually talented – she’s a talented fighter. But part of the job is making weight.”
Ladd failed to do that in her most recent trip to the UFC scale, coming in two pounds overweight for a non-title bout with Sara McMann that had already been rescheduled. Prior to that, she lost back-to-back fights in meetings with Raquel Pennington and Norma Dumont, the latter a 145-pound contest booked after another weight issue.
At one point, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Ladd’s license to compete at bantamweight, requiring her to submit extensive medical documentation before being allowed to fight at 135 pounds.
“She’s not made weight so many times, it had to happen,” White continued. “Not something you want to do, but something that had to be done.”
Ladd has yet to comment on her release, which was reported on Tuesday after the algorithm-based Twitter account UFC Roster Watch indicated she’d been removed from the active list. She earned a UFC record of 4-3, briefly garnering title talk after a three-fight winning streak in her early octagon career.