For Aspen Ladd, things are still personal between her and former UFC champion Miesha Tate.
There is a bit of a heated history between Aspen Ladd and former UFC champion Miesha Tate. It all started in late 2021 when “Cupcake” accused Ladd of trying to cheat on the scale but still missing weight for her eventually-canceled bout against Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 38.
Things then took a more personal turn when Tate mentioned Ladd’s supposed romantic relationship with her head coach Jim West. From then on, Ladd began pushing for a fight against Tate, but to no avail.
Tate has since moved down to flyweight, while Ladd jumped up to featherweight in her last fight. But as the 27-year-old stated in a recent conversation with James Lynch, a fight with Tate is something she still fancies. So much so that she says she’ll do it for free.
“That’s the Karen of MMA. I just wanted to hit her. I still want to hit her,” Ladd said of Tate. “But that’s not gonna be in my future right now, I have a different fight. But just purely… they wouldn’t even have to pay me, honestly. That’d just be a fun one.”
Ladd also believes that Tate likely isn’t making another run for UFC gold.
“The sport’s kind of passed her by. She was a dominant wrestler, and that’s kind of what got her where she is. I think she came back for money. She’s talking a big talk, but she’s not gonna make another title run.
“And at ’35, she wasn’t doing well. She’s like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna drop weight and see.’ But that’s a tough weight class, too.”
Ladd made her featherweight debut last October against Norma Dumont and lost via decision. She will be moving back to bantamweight for UFC 273 next month to face number three-ranked Irene Aldana.
Tate, meanwhile, will make her 125-pound debut against former title contender Lauren Murphy on May 14. She last saw action in November against Ketlen Vieira and lost unanimously on the scorecards.