- Aspen Ladd has opened as the -105 betting underdog against Sara McMann (-115).
- Ladd has lost three out of her last four bouts after winning her first eight professional MMA bouts.
- Ladd and McMann were first booked to fight each other in 2020 but Ladd suffered an injury and the bout was canceled.
Once touted as the future of the UFC’s 135-pound women’s weight class, Aspen Ladd has had a rough three-year stretch. The tough times will continue as she has been listed as an underdog in her next bout.
According to the best UFC betting sites, Ladd will be a slight minus-money betting favorite when she steps inside the octagon against veteran campaigner Sara McMann on August 13th:
UFC Fight Night Opening Odds:
Aspen Ladd (-105)
Sara McMann (-115) https://t.co/KNm3ygiLyj— FightOdds.io (@FightOdds_io) July 28, 2022
This is not the first time that the UFC booked Ladd and McCann against each other. The two were supposed to meet in a Fight Night event way back last June 27, 2020. Ladd suffered an injury and that fight was canceled.
Raquel Pennington Defeats Aspen Ladd via UD
‘Rocky’ makes it four-in-a-row!
Raquel Pennington def. Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/a7HbIJExdA
— Overtime Heroics MMA (@OTHeroicsMMA) April 10, 2022
Ladd is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 273 just last April 29th in Jacksonville. While the victory was the 4th in a row for Pennington, the defeat was the third in four bouts and the second straight for Ladd who has struggled in the last three years after opening her professional MMA career with 8 consecutive victories.
The 27-year-old from Folsom, California began her pro MMA career with Invicta FC where she won her first five bouts, including four via stoppage. Ladd joined the UFC in 2017 and defeated Lana Lansberg, Tonya Evinger, and Sijara Eubanks in succession. However, she ran into former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie in her next bout and suffered a 16-second knockout loss. Ladd bounced back to stop Yana Kunitskaya in her next bout but has since dropped back-to-back bouts against Norma Dumont and Penington. Overall, Ladd is 9-3 with six knockouts and one submission win.
This marks only the second time in her MMA career that Ladd has opened as the betting underdog. Unfortunately, it’s happened in consecutive bouts. After being the betting favorite in her first 11 MMA bouts, Ladd was the underdog for the first time in her career against Pennington, opening at +125 odds and closing as the +150 bottom dog.
Sara McMann Stifles Karol Rosa
#UFCColumbus prelims: Sara McMann holds ground at bantamweight, stifles Karol Rosa https://t.co/0RhoF8aykc from @bknapp52635
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) March 28, 2022
Meanwhile, McMann upset Karol Rosa in her most recent Octagon appearance last March 26th at UFC Colombus, stifling Rosa for three rounds and winning via unanimous decision. Prior to that victory, McMann also dropped three out of four bouts, suffering submission losses to Ketlen Vieira, Marion Renau, and current bantamweight champion Julianna Pena while picking up a unanimous decision win over Lina Lansberg.
The 41-year-old from Takoma Park, Maryland is a former 2003 World Championships silver medalist and 2004 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling. McMann transitioned to professional MMA and competed for promotions like Titan FC and Pro Elite. She fought for the Invicta FC title eliminator at Invicta FC 2 and defeated Shayna Baszler. But she ended up joining the UFC in 2013 and unsuccessfully challenged for the bantamweight title against Ronda Rousey at UFC 170. Overall, McMann is 13-6 with one knockout and five submission victories.
McMann opened at +160 odds in her last fight against Rosa and even closed as a bigger +210 betting underdog. The 8th ranked bantamweight in the UFC has opened as the betting underdog in three out of her previous four bouts but is 2-2 during that span. She is however not unbeatable as a betting favorite as she was the -190 chalk when she lost to Marion Reneau at UFC on Fox 28 in 2018.
