Preview: UFC Fight Night 210 Prelims

Women’s Bantamweights

#7 WBW | Aspen Ladd (9-3, 4-3 UFC) vs. #8 WBW | Sara McMann (13-6, 7-6 UFC)

ODDS: Ladd (-135), McMann (+115)

This is an interesting fight for a myriad of reasons, as these talented but untrustworthy bantamweights could be in a big spot with a win. It has been a difficult few years for Ladd, to say the least. She was one of the brighter prospects in women’s mixed martial arts when she made her UFC debut at the age of 22 back in 2017, after which she strung together an impressive three-fight winning streak by marching down and overwhelming her opponents. That led to an extremely sudden push up the ladder when the UFC decided to main event a July 2019 card by slotting Ladd opposite Germaine de Randamie; it was a huge jump in level of competition and profile, particularly since Ladd had yet to even appear on a UFC main card. De Randamie knocked out Ladd in just 16 seconds, and she has spent the ensuing three-plus years trying to recapture her old form with limited success. Her next bout, a win over Yana Kunitskaya, saw Ladd accomplish little until her coach-slash-boyfriend riled her up with a speech in between the second and third rounds, shortly after which she completely obliterated the Russian for a quick finish. After injuries and weight issues kept Ladd out of action for nearly two years, it has been much the same story, only without the turnaround. Ladd was flat over five rounds in a main event loss to Norma Dumont—her coaching relationship was the issue of the week afterwards—and while she did eventually wake up in the third round against Raquel Pennington in April, it was not enough to turn things around for a victory. Ladd is still just 27 years old and, despite her struggles, still quite relevant in a thin division, but an impressive performance against McMann would go a long way towards turning around the narrative of her career.

Meanwhile, McMann remains as frustrating as ever leading up to her 42nd birthday. An Olympic silver medalist as a freestyle wrestler back in 2004, McMann is still a standout athlete who has been able to lean on that background. Add in some solid grappling, and she is an absolute terror once everything clicks. However, when situations turn badly for McMann, they turn hard. A three-fight winning streak over 2016 and 2017 seemed to be when McMann was finally putting everything together, only for her to suffer sudden submission losses in upsets to Ketlen Vieira and Marion Reneau. In her most recent loss, a January 2021 bout that set Julianna Pena up for a title shot, McMann was dominant until “The Venezuelan Vixen” suddenly found some success and ended the fight shortly afterwards. Naturally, McMann’s most recent outing saw her steadily outwrestle Karol Rosa in a one-sided win, making it as baffling as ever as to when she can actually string together a consistent performance. This is basically a coinflip. McMann figures to have this well in hand early, but Ladd’s tendency to suddenly wake up in the third round combined with the Olympian’s tendency to collapse makes for a clear dynamic in which the favorite can turn this around for a finish. That might be the smartest option, but requiring faith in Ladd is a difficult obstacle to overcome. It may be a risky call, but the pick is for McMann to hang on for the decision victory.

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