Kayla Harrison is the reigning UFC bantamweight champ but has a good chance of claiming a scalp that may vault her to GOAT status, according to a former opponent. The referenced combatant is Aspen Ladd, who fought the multi-time Olympic gold medalist in the PFL Smart Cage when Harrison mostly fought at lightweight and occasionally featherweight.
Aspen Ladd is now entering her sophomore bare-knuckle boxing bout as she makes her debut in the BKB Mighty Trigon this weekend. Ladd battles former BKB title challenger Bianca Daimoni at BKB 58 in Miami on August 29th. During a late-June interview on Bowks Talking Bouts, Cris Cyborg teased that we could perhaps see a Fall booking for the long-awaited Kayla Harrison taking on the iconic Amanda Nunes.
Offering up her thoughts on that generational title clash at 135 pounds, Ladd said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“That one’s a tough one only because if it was prime Amanda Nunes when she was hungry, she was champ. I think she would take it. But she’s been out of it for a long time. She’s made astronomical amounts of money. If she doesn’t have that same fire, Kayla will handle her. We’ve seen that happen before with; it’s been a very long time. She went on what the kids would call a generational run, right?”
“But she can be broken and she can lose. If she’s put into a bad position, we’ve seen her break. After so long, but also Kayla’s coming back from a big surgery. So she needs to come back fully from that. So, it’s hard. Prime Amanda Nunes, I’d say Amanda. Right now, I’d say Kayla.”
For Kayla Harrison “there’s not a single woman in that division that will challenge her”, per Aspen Ladd
A headline from Sherdog circa May 2024 saw Ladd quip that nobody in the UFC’s bantamweight division will beat Kayla Harrison. With it being over two years after this sentiment was mentioned, when asked again if she still feels that way about the decorated combat athlete’s dominance among her peers at 135 pounds in the Ultimate Fighting Championship today, Ladd stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“They asked me that and I remember telling them that no, not a single one will be able to out grapple her. They’ll give her Ketlen Vieira and Ketlen will be able to survive her, but she won’t she won’t come out with a win. No, there’s not a single woman in that division that will challenge her right now.”
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
