Next week’s UFC card just suffered a hit as top bantamweight contender, Aspen Ladd (9-1) has been forced off the card after tearing her ACL.
Unfortunate news for a top women's bantamweight contender: @AspenLaddMMA suffered an injury in training and is out of her fight next week with Sara McMann.
I’m told her recovery could be anywhere between 3-9 months.
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) June 20, 2020
UFC on ESPN 12 loses a good one
One of the fights I was really looking forward to next week was Ladd taking on former title challenger, Sara McMann (12-5). McMann, a former silver medalist in Olympic wrestling, was going to pose an interesting challenge for the rising contender. Ladd has a solid game all the way around, but I was really curious to watch her against the former Olympian. There is no word on if McMann will remain on the card as of this point. As John Morgan pointed out, it will likely be anywhere from six months to a year before Ladd is able to actually compete given the recovery timeline. A win next Saturday would have put Ladd in a good position for a UFC title shot. This is a massive setback for her career.
Still a strong card
The good thing for the UFC is that the card next weekend has some really solid fights up and down. This is one of the fights that I was the most excited for, but there are plenty of solid replacement options for the main card. All we can do is hope for a speedy recovery for Ladd as she recovers from this devastating knee injury.