UFC women’s bantamweight Aspen Ladd has revealed the struggle she endured while recovering from surgery following a torn ACL and MCL.
Ladd is set to make her return to action this weekend after over a year-and-a-half away from the Octagon. Her opponent in the UFC Vegas 32 co-main event will be #9-ranked women’s bantamweight Macy Chiasson. The 29-year-old has lost just once in MMA and will be riding a two-fight winning streak that includes victories over Marion Reneau and Shanna Young into the fight.
Before suffering her serious injury, Ladd had returned to the win column in style against Yana Kunitskaya following her first defeat in MMA five months prior against Germaine de Randamie. With a 4-1 record in the UFC, Ladd looked set to continue her rapid rise in the promotion before being sidelined. She’ll hope to pick up where she left off when she returns this weekend.
Ahead of her bout with Chiasson, Aspen Ladd discussed the trials and tribulations of her recovery from injury with James Lynch of MMANews. The 26-year-old revealed that she essentially had to re-learn how to walk.
“I think that everything’s more technical. I mean, it’s the same for anybody that’s been off (and) had an injury. You can’t work through things until other things get a little bit sharper. But as you come back, for months and months and months, I could only do specific things. I only worked with my coaches. So the details, they get better. The little things get better because you’re not screwing up. You’re only doing the right thing over and over and over.
“And then you basically have to re-teach your body how to move right. So with the knee and everything, I had to re-learn how to walk right, I had to re-learn how to pivot, and kick, and step, and even shift my weight in throwing a punch. So getting back down to the fundamentals and the basics of that, I think it’s been very, very helpful for my overall game.”
Coming To Terms With Comeback Opponent
Ladd told MMANews that she’d been discussing two other top contenders with the UFC as potential opponents for her return before landing with Louisiana’s Chiasson.
“Yeah, so initially, we were angling for [Julianna] Peña. Or Raquel [Pennington]. And from what I understood initially, so Raquel is like she wanted to fight before I would have been ready. Basically, I just couldn’t do it before a certain date. Obviously, Peña got the title shot. “
Despite missing out on bouts with Peña and Pennington, Ladd is aware of the threat Chiasson poses and praised her well-rounded skill set.
“She’s well-rounded. She’s willing to engage in all facets from what I’ve watched. She likes to strike. Striking’s her thing. But she doesn’t strike and disengage the grappling or disengage the clinch. She’s willing to play there as well. She’s not just somebody that, ‘I only can strike. Her grappling’s good. She’s good.”
Ahead of UFC Vegas 32 this weekend, catch our full interview with one-half of the co-main event, Aspen Ladd, below:
The UFC Vegas 32 card features a number of exciting matchups. Following Ladd’s return, T.J. Dillashaw will make a similar comeback, albeit from suspension rather than injury, in the main event, having not competed since 2019 as well. The former bantamweight champ will face the high-flying Cory Sandhagen in Saturday’s headliner.
Elsewhere, the likes of Darren Elkins, Mickey Gall, Brendan Allen, Andre Ewell, and Ian Heinisch look set to make the upcoming card another entertaining watch for the MMA masses.
Which UFC Vegas 32 matchup are you looking forward to the most?
