Tag: Aspen Ladd

GFL draft results: Former UFC champions surprise with unexpected entries

Check out the GFL Draft results and see which of the hottest free agents and MMA legends were selected to compete in the inaugural year.

It’s not every day there’s an MMA draft, but Friday there was

The 2025 GFL Draft took place virtually with a live stream on MMA Junkie. Six teams, each representing a major city, drafted from a pool of approximately 500 fighters, including big-name free agents and rising prospects.

One-hundred-twenty athletes were be selected across 10 weight classes (heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight, women’s bantamweight, women’s strawweight, and women’s atomweight). However, the weight classes are divided slightly differently than the traditional weight classes. The promotion says it’s an effort to combat weight cutting.

Click here to see which fighters are eligible for the draft.

The six teams are managed and coached by MMA notables, as follows: Dubai (manager Cain Velasquez and coach Javier Mendez); London (manager Luke Barnatt and coach Carl Prince); Los Angeles (manager Wanderlei Silva and coach Rafael Cordeiro); Miami (manager Thiago Alves and coach Conan Silveira); New York (manager TBA and coach Ray Longo); and Sao Paulo (manager Lyoto Machida and coach Andre Pederneiras.

While a specific date has yet to be revealed, the promotion says it will launch in April with regular season, semi-finals, and finals events held throughout the year.

The 2025 GFL Draft results are as follows:

Round 1

  • Pick 1 (Team Dubai): Tyron Woodley
  • Pick 2 (Team Los Angeles): Sage Northcutt
  • Pick 3 (Team London): Gegard Mousasi
  • Pick 4 (Miami): Junior Dos Santos
  • Pick 5 (Sao Paulo): Fabricio Werdum
  • Pick 6 (New York): Kevin Lee

Round 2

  • Pick 7 (New York): Chris Weidman
  • Pick 8 (Sao Paulo): Douglas Lima
  • Pick 9 (Miami): Anthony Pettis
  • Pick 10 (London): Alexander Gustafsson
  • Pick 11 (Los Angeles): Aspen Ladd
  • Pick 12 (Dubai): Abubakar Nurmagomedov

Round 3

  • Pick 13 (Dubai): Derek Brunson
  • Pick 14 (Los Angeles): Tony Ferguson
  • Pick 15 (London): Josefine Knutsson
  • Pick 16 (Miami): Yoel Romero
  • Pick 17 (Sao Paulo): Carlos Petruzzella
  • Pick 18 (New York): Holly Holm

Round 4

  • Pick 19 (New York): Melissa Amay
  • Pick 20 (Sao Paulo): Camilia Reynoso
  • Pick 21 (Miami): Natasha Kuizutina
  • Pick 22 (London): Brett Johns
  • Pick 23 (Los Angeles): Urijah Faber
  • Pick 24 (Dubai): Ali Isaev

Full team reveal (following Round 5):

Team Dubai

  • [autotag]Anastasia Nikolakakos[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Jessica Aguilar[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Faine Mesquita[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Randi Field[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Alexa Conners[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Arlene Blencowe[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Farbod Iran Nezhad[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Timur Valiev[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Adilet Nurmatov[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Khumoyun Tukhtamurodov[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Tofiq Musayev[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Abubakar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Derek Brunson[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Ali Isaev[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Todd Duffee[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Team Los Angeles

  • [autotag]Cory McKenna[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Jessica Penne[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Leslie Smith[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Chad Mendes[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Tyler Diamond[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Louis Glismann[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Grant Neal[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Da Woon Jung[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Rashad Evans[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Frank Mir[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Team London

  • [autotag]Chiara Penco[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Kelly Staddon[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Josefine Knutsson[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Karolina Owczarz[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Cameron Else[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Josh Hill[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Brett Johns[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Tim Wilde[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Norman Parke[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Gegard Mousasi[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Stuart Austin[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Team Miami

  • [autotag]Kayla Hracho[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Natasha Kuziutina[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Hannah Goldy[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Mariya Agapova[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Eric Shelton[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Andre Harrison[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Charles Rosa[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Jeremy Stephens[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Dilano Taylor[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Gleison Tibau[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Hector Lombard[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Philipe Lins[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Robelis Despaigne[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Team Sao Paulo

  • [autotag]Joice Mara[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Pamela Mara[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Camila Reynoso[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Alejandra Lara[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Paula Bittencourt[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Raphael Assuncao[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Renan Barao[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Julio Arce[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Maike Linhares[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Lucas Martins[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Carlos Petruzzella[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Alan Patrick[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Antonio Carlos Junior[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Mauricio Rua[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Bruno Cappelozza[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Team New York

  • [autotag]Bi Nguyen[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Marisa Messer-Belenchia[/autotag] (atomweight)
  • [autotag]Melissa Amaya[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Miao Ding[/autotag] (strawweight)
  • [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Liana Jojua[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Jimmie Rivera[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Zviad Lazishvili[/autotag] (bantamweight)
  • [autotag]Lance Palmer[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Kai Kamaka III[/autotag] (featherweight)
  • [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag] (lightweight)
  • [autotag]Neiman Gracie[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag] (welterweight)
  • [autotag]Phillip Hawes[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag] (middleweight)
  • [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Ovince Saint Preux[/autotag] (light heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag] (heavyweight)
  • [autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag] (heavyweight)

Aspen Ladd: Nobody in UFC bantamweight division will beat Kayla Harrison

Aspen Ladd doesn’t think anyone can hang with Kayla Harrison in the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

[autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] doesn’t think anyone can hang with [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] in the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

Harrison swept the scorecards when she defeated Ladd in their 150-pound catchweight bout this past November at the 2023 PFL Championships. The two-time Olympic gold medalist then signed with the UFC, choking out Holly Holm in her bantamweight debut at UFC 300.

Ladd (11-5) reflected on what it was like to fight Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

“That was an extraordinarily tough fight to take on the time period that I did and yeah, she’s one of the best out there,” Ladd told reporters at a virtual news conference Tuesday (h/t Cageside Press). “She’s definitely one of the best grapplers in the world, and she’s continuing to do big things, and she’s about to take the 135-pound division in the UFC.”

Ladd wasn’t surprised with how easily Harrison handled former UFC bantamweight champion Holm. She expects her to rule over the division.

“Kayla Harrison did exactly what I thought she was going to do, especially when I heard the matchup,” Ladd said. “Obviously people think that’s a tough fight, or Holly will do the same thing that she did to Ronda (Rousey).

“She rag-dolled her, and I thought she was going to make it look easy. There’s not currently anybody in that division that’s going to be able to beat her in my opinion.”

Ladd returns against Katerina Shakalova in the Bellator Champions Series: Paris prelims Friday at Accor Arena in Paris.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event page for Bellator Champions Series: Paris.

Photos: Aspen Ladd through the years

Check out these photos highlighting Aspen Ladd’s career through the years.

Check out these photos highlighting [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag]’s career through the years.

Aspen Ladd excited with switch from PFL to Bellator, still aims to become champion

Aspen Ladd is looking forward to fighting for Bellator now that the PFL closed the women’s featherweight season this year.

The landscape in [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag]’s fighting career has changed drastically and abruptly in recent months. Yet, despite all the differences, her main goal remains: to become a champion wherever she’s fighting.

The former UFC contender was fighting under the PFL banner after leaving the UFC in late 2022. However, that all changed out of nowhere when PFL disbanded the women’s featherweight season for 2024, only hosting 125 pounds for women after purchasing rival promotion Bellator in late 2023.

Ladd (11-5) has yet to make her Bellator debut but does have a fight scheduled. She’s expected to meet Ekaterina Shakalova at the Bellator Championship Series event in Paris on May 17. Although things may seem new and uncertain, Ladd’s focus remains unchanged.

“I’m very curious to see what the belt situation is with what’s going on,” Ladd told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t know if it’s going to be a unified belt, or they’re going to keep one for Bellator, one for PFL. I don’t know.

“And yes, that is the ultimate goal (become world champion), but at the moment because it’s so up in the air, it’s like, ‘Meh.’ I just take every fight as they come, and that is the singular battle. We’ll see where this goes in a year and year and a half with what they’re going to do.”

Bellator Championship Series is mostly going to be held outside the U.S., at least for the near future. This excites Ladd because she will have the opportunity to travel the world, as she has only fought outside the U.S. once in her entire professional MMA career.

“Honestly, I’m very excited about it,” Ladd said about the switch from PFL to Bellator. It’s going to be the year of travel because after this fight, if you look at where all the fights are going to be this year, there’s a slim chance I’m fighting in the U.S. It’s the year of travel, and that’s pretty darn exciting.”

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PFL lists its top 10 submissions of the 2023 season

Relive the PFL’s best submissions of the year with this video ranking the top 10.

PFL continues its highlight of the best moments of its 2023 season, and this time it’s moved to submissions. The promotion compiled and ranked the top 10 submissions, which are:

1. [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] def. Sadibou Sy via guillotine choke
2. [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] def. Ryoji Kudo via guillotine choke
3. [autotag]Marina Mokhnatkina[/autotag] def. Amber Leibrock via armbar
4. [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] def. Jo Sung Bin via rear-naked choke
5. [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] def. Karolina Sobek via armbar
6. [autotag]Simeon Powell[/autotag] def. Mohammed Amine via arm triangle choke
7. [autotag]Alexei Pergande[/autotag] def. Akeem Bashir via D’arce choke
8. [autotag]Anthony Ivy[/autotag] def. Carson Hardman via rear-naked choke
9. [autotag]Nathan Kelly[/autotag] def. Dimitry Solimeis via rear-naked choke
10. [autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag] def. Malin Hermansson via rear-naked choke

You can watch the replay of the top 10 PFL submissions in the video above.

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Kayla Harrison def. Aspen Ladd at 2023 PFL Championship: Best photos

Check out these photos from Kayla Harrison vs. Aspen Ladd at 2023 PFL Championship in Washington, D.C.

Check out these photos from [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag]’s victory over Aspen Ladd at 2023 PFL Championship at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)

2023 PFL Championship results: Kayla Harrison overwhelms Aspen Ladd, calls out ‘bad b*tch’ Cris Cyborg

Kayla Harrison returned to the win column with a dominant display vs. Aspen Ladd at 2023 PFL Championship, and then called out Cris Cyborg.

[autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] returned to the win column and made a big call out after defeating Aspen Ladd.

On the main card of 2023 PFL Championship at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., Harrison (16-1) was too much for Ladd (11-5) to handle over the course of 15 minutes, as she rebounded from the first loss of her career with unanimous scores of 30-27.

After a few initial striking exchanges, Harrison slipped as they traded kicks, but quickly recovered to bring the fight to her world on the ground. Harrison nearly completed a transition to full mount, but Ladd escaped to her feet, and nearly hit a takedown of her own. Harrison reversed the attempt though, and began landing punches from guard. Ladd eventually worked her way back to her feet, but couldn’t escape the clinch against the cage, where Harrison landed a few short strikes and a hard knee to the head before the horn.

Harrison entertained a few more exchanges on the feet before finding an entry for a takedown. Ladd didn’t rest and once again worked her way back up, but Harrison quickly returned the fight to the mat where she would continue her smothering pressure. An arm triangle attempt was locked in by Harrison in the closing seconds, but Ladd would not tap before the end of the round.

For the first half of the last frame, Harrison decided to test her hands against Ladd, and put together a few nice combinations. Midway through the round, she took the fight back to the mat, but Ladd reversed position. Ladd nearly had a rear-naked choke from the back, but Harrison was able to escape and reverse position. Ladd worked her way up again to the standing clinch, just to get blasted in the head with a few hard knees.

After her return to the win column was officially announced, Harrison turned her attention to calling out a potential future opponent. Although she did not say her name specifically, it can be assumed she was referring to Bellator champion Cris Cyborg.

“I’m excited PFL has acquired Bellator. I heard there’s a girl in Bellator who thinks she’s a bad b*tch,” Harrison told Dan Hardy during their in-cage post-fight interview. “Well, why don’t we find out?”

Up-to-the-minute results of 2023 PFL Championship include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.

Aspen Ladd wants to put Kayla Harrison’s confidence to the test after first PFL loss

Aspen Ladd’s first season in the PFL may not have resulted in a trip to the playoffs, but she’s got a huge opportunity, regardless.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag]’s first season in the PFL may not have resulted in a trip to the playoffs, but she’s got a huge opportunity, regardless.

Ladd (11-4) takes on two-time PFL $1 million season winner Kayla Harrison (15-1) on Friday at the 2023 PFL Championship in a featured 150-pound contract weight bout on pay-per-view. Because Harrison is coming off the first loss of her career in the 2022 final, Ladd hopes she can rattle her and put her confidence on the ropes.

Ladd spoke to MMA Junkie following Thursday’s ceremonial weigh-ins. Check out the interview in the video above.

The 2023 PFL Championship event takes place Friday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The main card airs on pay-per-view (ESPN+) following prelims on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.

UFC veterans in MMA action Nov. 23-24

Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC is idle during Thanksgiving week.

Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing Nov. 23-24.

Scroll below to see how the UFC veterans fared last week, and see the names and details of this weekend’s competitors.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

2023 PFL Championship pay-per-view price revealed

Is the 2023 PFL Championship priced fairly for five title fights and two feature bouts?

The 2023 PFL Championship is just days away, and ESPN has released what it’ll cost viewers who purchase.

As of Sunday, ESPN+ has the event listed at a selling price of $49.99, according to the point-of-purchase page online. The 2023 PFL Championship takes place Friday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.

A pay-per-view purchase unlocks seven fights: five season championship bouts and two feature fights: [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] and [autotag]Derek Brunson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag].

The price remains constant from the 2022 PFL Championships, which featured six title fights and no feature bouts.

The 2023 PFL Championship lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Clay Collard – lightweight season final
  • Renan Ferreira vs. Denis Goltsov – heavyweight title
  • Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Larissa Pacheco – women’s featherweight season final
  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Sadibou Sy – welterweight season final
  • Impa Kasanganay vs. Josh Silveira – light heavyweight season final
  • Kayla Harrison vs. Aspen Ladd
  • Derek Brunson vs. Ray Cooper III

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Gabriel Braga vs. Jesus Pinedo – featherweight season final
  • Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Joel Lopez
  • Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade
  • Phil Caracappa vs. Khai Wu
  • Josh Blyden vs. Jesse Stirn

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.