Dana White reacts to Aspen Ladd’s UFC release: “It had to happen”

Dana White is reacting to Aspen Ladd’s UFC release.

Aspen Ladd, 27, (9-3 MMA) a bantamweight division fighter with the UFC, was released from the promotion as of Tuesday, September 27th.

It was ‘UFC Roster Watch’ which was the first to alert social media that she had been removed from the official UFC women’s bantamweight rankings database.

Ladd was scheduled to fight Sara McMann (13-6 MMA) at UFC Fight Night 210 on Saturday September 17th but the fight was cancelled due to Ladd’s inability to make weight.

This was not the first time the two were scheduled to fight, they were scheduled to fight back on August 13th in San Diego but Ladd had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.

The Californian has had three weight misses while under the UFC banner. Although it’s not baseball, perhaps the 3 strikes you’re out, rules apply in the UFC as well.

It is unfortunate as Ladd was a promising prospect in the UFC, but with 3 weight mishaps and 2 losses in her last 2 fights against Norma Dumont (8-2 MMA) in October of 2021 and Raquel Pennington (14-8 MMA) at UFC 273 in April of this year, her future is no longer with the promotion.

Dana White, speaking about the release of Ladd, at the Contender Series, Week 10 Post-fight Press Conference, had this to say:

“We tried to work with her (Ladd). She’s a great kid. She’s a really nice person. It’s never fun when you have someone’s who’s actually talented – She’s a talented fighter, but part of the job is making weight.”

Concluding UFC President Dana White said:

“She’s not made weight so many times. It had to happen. Not something you want to do, but something that had to be done.”

Aspen Ladd has yet to respond to being released by the UFC, but did put out a post on ‘Instagram’, concerning one of her dogs, which read:

“Here’s to … the next huge milestone in my own life that she will be there for.”

Are you surprised that the UFC released Aspen Ladd?

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