Proposed Fix To MMA Judging

The judging in the sport of MMA recently has been questionable at best, with plenty of controversial decisions in just the last six months, including Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi, Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon, and Joselyne Edwards vs. Lucie Pudilova. Ladd has also been no stranger to these decisions, with her last bout coming as a majority decision loss. Despite losing the first two rounds of the fight, she dominated Kolesnyk in the third and believed she deserved a 10-8 round.

In a follow-up question, we asked Ladd what her fix would be for judging, and like most, she likes the idea of overhauling the judges right now to former fighters with more experience.

Gameplan For Karolina Sobek

If you need to familiarize yourself with the PFL points system, here's a quick summary. Every fighter gets two fights to earn points, and the top four fighters with the most points move onto the semi-final bracket. You get six points for a first-round finish, five for a second-round finish, four for a third-round finish, and three for a decision. Since Ladd lost her first bout, she hasn't got any, meaning she will need a quick finish to secure her spot in the semis. When we asked if she prioritized points or the win, Ladd had this to say.

Potential Future Matchups

There have been rumors floating around recently about a potential PFL x Bellator merger due to the PFL wanting to buy out Bellator. We wanted to get Ladd's thoughts on the merger, and if there were anyone at Bellator, she'd love to fight.

While nothing is official yet, a merger between the two promotions would be massive for the sport, and Ladd agreed that it would create the most stacked Women's Featherweight division in the world, even falling above the UFC's.

Life As a PFL Fighter

Moving promotions, especially when you're signed to such a huge stage like the UFC, is a jarring experience. But now, despite only signing to the PFL in 2022, Ladd is coming into her third fight with the promotion, and we wanted to know if she felt like a "PFL fighter" yet.

One of Ladd's most important changes in the PFL was moving from Bantamweight to Featherweight, and as someone who has struggled with weight cuts in her career, we wanted to know if she felt smaller in her new division.

We also wanted to know her thoughts on the contrast between the UFC's Women's Featherweight division and the PFL's, which has become an even larger talking point following Amanda Nunes' retirement at UFC 289.

Our final question for Ladd was surrounding the growth of the PFL following some of their most recent signings, like Francis Ngannou, Jake Paul, Shane Burgos, and Cedric Doumbe. We wanted to hear her thoughts on what it was like to be part of the growing promotion.

You can catch Aspen Ladd's next bout against Karolina Sobek on Friday, June 16th, on the main card of PFL 5. How do you think her fight will go down? As a member of the Verdict Community, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Thank you very much for your time Aspen.