The UFC Vegas 38 weigh-ins ended on a pretty bad note Friday afternoon when women’s bantamweight fighter Aspen Ladd spent several minutes shaking and trembling on the scale as the Nevada commission employee struggled to get an accurate weight reading for her.
Ladd had weighed in fully clothed at 141 pounds, and then had the black modesty box brought out so she could strip nude. Rules say that you have to raise your hands above the curtains to prove you’re not pulling any shenanigans, but Ladd simply couldn’t seem to do it. Eventually she was read in at 137 pounds but fight was called off after Ladd’s opponent Macey Chiasson refused to go forward with things.
What it looked like to us: Ladd having another really bad cut that had her on the verge of collapse, again. But to fellow UFC women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate, it was a clear case of someone trying to cheat on the scales.
It’s one thing to miss weight, it’s another thing to try and cheat the scale and use every excuse in the book to not weigh in properly. Everyone saw you cheat and still came in a lb over. I bet you were every bit of 139. https://t.co/VyOWcfTMCv
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 3, 2021
Because she wanted to cheat the real scale and she knew if she checked before hand that she couldn’t explain why the lbs suddenly disappeared when she got behind a curtain she could grab onto https://t.co/p0R33jTtyu
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 3, 2021
She was acting like she couldn’t put both of her hands up in the air w/out shaking violently (making it impossible to get an accurate weight) even though she had been standing just fine on there prior. She needed 2 hold the inside of the curtain rods in hopes of taking lbs off https://t.co/GN6dJzbCua
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 3, 2021
Whether or not Ladd looked ‘just fine’ or not at first, we’ll let you decide — watch the video of the whole 11 minute affair below. But it was certainly curious that she somehow managed to go from 141 pounds in her Venum kit to 137 pounds without. And hey, add in the fact that we didn’t see her hands (or her feet, lifting a foot off the scale is another scam game) and you’re just asking for people to suspect something rotten going on.
It didn’t take long for Ladd’s coach to fire back at Tate with just as much vitriol.
Miesha Tate you are a coward. Remember when you lied saying we wanted you to fight late notice at 145 but you went on record saying we wanted it at 135 and we know for a fact you said you didn’t want that tough of an opponent? Trust me have good inside information.
— Jim west (@Jwestgold15) October 3, 2021
Cheat? You dumb fuck she weighed in with damp sweats, shorts, sock, sweats etc which was 4 pounds (141) if you can do simple subtraction that equals 137. Cheat? Please explain that fucking magic.
— Jim west (@Jwestgold15) October 3, 2021
Please try and stand still, with hands in the air while dehydrated, dizzy, and nauseous all while trying to hold yourself because you are bleeding. You better hope you never have to fight Aspen. Oh wait you probably won’t you coward
— Jim west (@Jwestgold15) October 3, 2021
Whatever the case, Ladd’s going to have a hard time finding opponents at 135 pounds in the future considering her history of missing weight and/or showing up half dead for weigh-ins. Ladd first missed the 135 pound mark in Invicta back in 2016. In 2018 Leslie Smith was cut from the UFC after refusing to accept a catchweight fight with Ladd. And then July of 2019 saw Ladd looking so bad on the scales her fight against Germaine de Randamie was almost called off. It went ahead and Ladd was knocked out in 16 seconds.