MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the main event of UFC Fight Night 155, a five-round women’s bantamweight bout between Aspen Ladd and Germaine de Randamie. The event takes place this Saturday, July 13 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
Aspen Ladd (-165)
Ladd (8-0) is one of the top young bantamweight prospects on the UFC roster. The 24-year-old American began her pro career in 2015 for Invicta and has since then won all eight of her fights, including six by stoppage. Ladd joined the UFC in 2017 and has since gone a perfect 3-0 with wins over Lina Lansberg, Tonya Evinger, and Sijara Eubanks. She is a big, strong bantamweight who prefers to take her opponents down and beat them up on the mat. She has heavy ground and pound as well as slick submissions, making her a nightmare for any opponent who she takes down. Her striking is still a work in progress but is improving as time goes on. The MMAGold Fight Team product could be a force at 135lbs for years to come and just four fights into her UFC career she is headlining a Fight Night card against a former champion. The UFC is giving her a tremendous opportunity here to emerge as a top contender, and now it’s up to Ladd to show the world how good of a fighter she truly is.
Germaine de Randamie (+125)
De Randamie (8-3) is the former UFC women’s featherweight champion. The 35-year-old native of Holland is one of the most experienced combat sports veterans in women’s MMA. Though she has only 11 MMA fights she has plenty of muay Thai experience, and her striking has carried over into her mixed martial arts career. Since joining the UFC in 2013, de Randamie is 5-1 with notable wins over Holly Holm, Raquel Pennington and Julie Kedzie. Her lone loss in the UFC came against Amanda Nunes back in 2013. De Randamie is a tall, long, powerful striker with devastating knees from the clinch and heavy kicks from distance. As far as pure striking skills go, she is one of the top female fighters in the UFC. Her takedown defense and wrestling skills have also improved in recent years, though generally haven’t been tested on the ground since the Nunes fight. But with a win here over Ladd, she may very well get that rematch against Nunes that she desires.
Fight Breakdown: This is going to be a great fight between two fighters who will be looking to implement two very different stylistic gameplans. Ladd will surely be looking to take the fight to the mat where she can use her heavy ground and pound. Meanwhile, de Randamie will be aiming to keep it on the feet and utilize her devastating muay Thai attacks. Just who will be able to keep the fight in their preferred realm is what makes this an intriguing matchup. My prediction is Ladd is able to get de Randamie down at some point, and once the fight is on the ground Ladd is going to be at a huge advantage. Against Nunes, de Randamie was pinned down an unable to get back up as her opponent moved into a dominant position and finished her with ground and pound. That’s exactly how Ladd likes to finish her fights, and she already has a blueprint to follow to get the job done. I expect Ladd to get the fight to the mat at some point and although de Randamie is tough, I think Ladd is going to take her down and smash her en route to a TKO victory, potentially earning the youngster a title shot against Nunes.
Prediction: Aspen Ladd wins via TKO
