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Aspen Ladd was unsuccessful in trying to overturn her TKO loss to Germaine de Randamie in July.
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) denied Aspen Ladd’s appeal to overturn her TKO loss to Germaine de Randamie. Per ESPN, the decision was made on Tuesday, with a vote of 3-2 to uphold referee Herb Dean’s decision to stop the fight in just 16 seconds of action.
During the hearing, Ladd’s manager Dave Hirschbein argued that the stoppage was a result of subconscious gender bias because the fight was between two women. Ladd’s team was hoping for the fight to be overturned to a No Contest.
“This is about, are women being treated equally in the sport of mixed martial arts? This is what we feel this is about,” he said.
Ladd felt her durability was questioned because women “function at a lesser degree” in MMA, compared to men.
“I’ve had people question my chin more so than a male teammate, for example,” she said. “It’s common for people to believe that we function at a lesser degree than the males in the sport.”
Herb Dean went on to defend himself against the gender bias accusation, noting how he was simply doing his job that night.
“I’m not a gender discriminator,” Dean said.
“At that point, I don’t believe that she is aware of where her opponent is,” he recalled of the fight. “At that point, I don’t see her doing any of the things that I would call intelligent defense.”
The loss to De Randamie is the only blemish in Ladd’s record, as she now holds a slate of 8-1 (with six wins by stoppage).