- Aspen Ladd commented on the rivalry between Larissa Pacheco and Kayla Harrison
- The 27-year-old is focused on fighting at PFL this upcoming season and is interested to see if she ends up fighting either of the two
After being released by the UFC due to repetitive weight miss, Aspen Ladd found a new lease on life at PFL in October. She made a successful debut with the promotion and is now set to compete for a whole season in PFL’s new women’s featherweight division.
Ladd could be on course to make great strides at 145 pounds but lightweight superstars Larissa Pacheco and Kayla Harrison are still the biggest draws in the promotion. Ahead of the new season, Ladd shared her thoughts on the Pacheco and Harrison’s rivalry and a potential future fight with the pair.
A fourth fight makes sense
In an exclusive interview with MiddleEasy MMA, Ladd described the future of Pacheco and Harrison as a “weird situation” as they have already faced each other three times. Nevertheless, Ladd still thinks a fourth match between the two makes sense at this point.
“As it was going on, it’s like you know what, ‘I don’t know of the judge is gonna rob her or what’s gonna go but I think Larissa is winning.’ When it got to the end and she did and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ Because watching it I thought she had won. But it was close. But it was also like a weird situation because it’s not like they’ve only fought like once or twice, they’ve already fought three times. But honestly, what makes sense would probably be a rematch but that’s their fourth fight, so I don’t know,” Ladd said.
Larissa would chase Kayla still
In their three-fight rivalry, Harisson edged Pacheco twice in 2019, but the Brazilian managed to secure a victory in the third meeting, ending the American’s unbeaten run. Based on Ladd’s read on the subject, it’s still Pacheco who would chase Harrison for a rematch because one defeat may not be enough to exceed the tenure of the latter’s flawless legacy.
“I think she’s gonna chase the fight with Kayla…Kayla has been in control for a long time,” Ladd pointed out. “She’s been and she’s still writing her narrative, she’s still their name, but Larissa is now the boss. Like she owns that division. So, it’s less what Kayla wants I think it’s more what Larissa wants…I could be wrong but that’s how I’m looking at it.”
Down for whatever
Harrison won’t be competing this season, while Pacheco is still yet to decide on it. When asked if she feels the circumstances may not favored her as she could miss out on both colossal PFL stars this season, Ladd simply said she’ll fight “regardless” of the situation and it only gets more exciting that things wound up that way.
“I already know I’m gonna go the 45 (145-pound) season, and if a fight with one of them would materialize, perfect! But I didn’t have my heart set on it either way. It’s like, I’m gonna fight regardless,” Ladd explained. “I’m happy right now, let’s just see how it goes. And it’s kind of exciting everytime there’s a mix-up like that or a stir-up, it gets more interesting.”
Thoughts about Kayla
Before losing to Pacheco, Harrison was unbeaten since 2018. Despite the shocking turn of events, Ladd still thinks Harrison will bounce back stronger.
“She basically showed what I’ve seen previously with her. And she’ll come back from it,” Ladd said of Kayla. “A loss doesn’t define your career, a loss is just that, you learn from it, you get better, you come back. She’s going to do same thing. She’ll probably come back with a vengeance and we’ll see how that next fight goes and what they’d choose to do.”
Ladd is entering the new PFL season with a split decision victory to her name, having outpointed Julia Budd last month. It would be interesting to see how things would play her this upcoming season and if she could present a case to face either Pacheco or Harrison.
