Knockout! Aspen Ladd Anhilates Yana Kunitskaya at 33 Seconds of Final Round

After a disappointing outing against the iron lady of MMA, Germaine de Randamie. Aspen Ladd roared in DC tonight with an emphatic victory. The young prospect of women’s bantamweight division, Ladd took on former Invicta champion, Yana Kunitskaya in the main card of UFC on ESPN 7.

Going into the fight it was expected that Aspen Ladd will assert dominance with his strength and ground game. Surprisingly, Kunitskaya did a great job of nullifying the strength aspect. Although Ladd was initiating the clinches and the takedowns, Kunitskaya was defending herself well in the clinch and was landing some beautiful knees.

The first two rounds were a little uneventful though Ladd might have been leading on the judges’ scorecards. She finished the first round in a dominant position. However, the complexion of the fight changed completely after round 2. During the break. Ladd’s coach fired her up and asked her to give it all for the next 5 minutes. Well, Ladd obliged as she came out of the gate looking for a finish in the final round.

Ladd faked a right hand and followed up with a strong left hook that dropped Kunitskaya. It was the beginning of the end. Kunitskaya on survival mode while Ladd was landing some heavy punches on the ground. Finally, 33 seconds into the third round the referee stopped the fight.

After her impressive win over Yana Kunitskaya Ledd stated: 

“I could have definitely done better. But I am happy to be back.”

When asked about the advice from his corner after round 2, which changed the complexion of the fight entirely, Ledd said:

“I better freaking listen(her coach). if he is seeing this I need to go”.

With this win, it’s safe to say that Aspen Ladd has a strong possibility to get a title shot in 2020. The title will be on the line next week on UFC 245. Hence it was the perfect time for Ladd to make a statement and she did it very impressively.