PFL featherweight Aspen Ladd has detailed the horror of her UFC weight cuts which saw her lose out on multiple major fights on the scales.
Ladd has long been viewed as a top talent in the sport, but struggled in the UFC to maintain consistency after forcing herself down to 136lb. But after leaving the promotion to join MMA's next best organisation, where this a more concrete featherweight division, she has fallen back in love with the sport.
Her UFC career was marred by a number of weigh-ins where she failed to make the mark, once even being hospitalised by the process. And the few times she managed to get in under the limit much was made of her frail physique on the scales, with fans and experts relieved by her move to the PFL's 145lb division.
"I have an as of now undiagnosed auto-immune disorder and sores all over my body," she said in a candid media day ahead of her fight with Karolina Sobek on Friday night. "My hair all fell out, it was bad. I was in pain 24/7 and on anti-biotics for over a year and it was just a miserable situation for me.
"It's taken about a year for me to get fairly healthy again and I haven't had any flare-ups in about seven months so I am happy as can be. I knew that I couldn't do that any more, I remember telling my coach on what wasn't even the last 135lb cut, it was the second-to-last one that I can't physically keep doing this.
"I was like 'I'm basically ruining my body and I'm still fairly young. I want to be able to get to an old age'. It was never like I would have to stop fighting, it was a situation where I had to find something different to what I was currently doing because I cannot keep doing it.
"It feels good to feel good again and be able to get back to training and feel good about certain things. I'm eating healthy, my hair has grown back and I've recovered from some other medical issues. I did more damage than it was worth trying to do that for that period of time and for me its about getting back to good health."
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Ladd has since joined the PFL where she is 1-1, first defeating veteran Julia Budd in a showcase fight at the end of last year before a razor-close Majority Decision loss to Olena Kolesnyk in the opening bout of this season. She will likely need a stoppage victory to guarantee her spot in the play-offs and secure a world title shot and $1million payday, which she would use to pay off her house.
"It's definitely an added factor as far as stress goes," she explained of her situation. "But every fight is stressful in its own way, it's really a do or die situation, get out there and get it done! I think this is the best time for 145lb women and things are only getting better."
Watch Aspen Ladd compete for a spot in the PFL playoffs against Karolina Sobek this Friday night live on DAZN
