CSAC suspends Aspen Ladd’s license to fight at 135

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

No fighter on the UFC Sacramento card gained a greater percentage of their body weight back on fight day than Aspen Ladd.

The fight night weights report from the California State Athletic Commission confirm what many might have suspected: Aspen Ladd cuts an enormous amount of weight to make 135 lbs.

Ladd, who has had a history of weight cutting issues in the UFC, with truly frightening moments filmed on the scale, ballooned from 135 lbs to 159 lbs for her UFC Sacramento main event vs. Germaine de Randamie. The 18% weight gain from weigh-in to fight day — a greater percentage than anyone on the card — has prompted the CSAC to suspend Ladd’s license to compete at bantamweight, pending documentation from a licensed physician. Other commissions can honor California’s suspension, and executive officer Andy Foster expects that to happen.

ESPN’s Marc Raimondi has more details on the next steps for Ladd:

Ladd has been booked by the UFC to fight Yana Kunitskaya on Dec. 7 in Washington, D.C., in a bantamweight bout. Foster said Ladd will work with the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas to come up with a nutrition plan that will have to be approved by CSAC physicians.

The physicians will then monitor her weight leading up to the December fight, Foster said. Ladd trains at MMA Gold in Folsom, California, less than 30 miles from Sacramento, where the CSAC is based. Foster said he has been in touch with D.C.’s Combat Sports Commission about the situation.

Ladd (8-1) was knocked out in 16 seconds by de Randamie, who incidentally weighed 148 lbs that Saturday evening, fighting within the CSAC’s preferred guidelines of not exceeding 10% of the contracted weight on fight day.

California is by far the most progressive athletic commission when it comes to curbing extreme weight cutting in combat sports. In fact, Foster is working on a new rule that would see fights cancelled if a fighter is at least 15% above the contracted weight on fight day. In this instance, Ladd vs. de Randamie would’ve been cancelled, likewise Sheymon Moraes vs. Andre Fili, with Moraes skyrocketing to 170 lbs for a featherweight bout.