UFC finds itself at the pinnacle of the MMA world. The promotion leads other MMA promotions, in particular, to global reach. However, the most popular MMA promotion on the planet has seen some noted fighters turn to other options in recent years. One such fighter, Aspen Ladd, recently joined the PFL and drew a parallel between the two. Also, she referred to the influence of Conor McGregor on the fighters.

While both the promotions stand in contrast to each other, the former UFC fighter heavily favors the new promotion.

In a recent interview with MMA fighting, the featherweight fighter detailed the adaption of the fighters to these divisions. In addition, she expressed concern regarding the recent ‘insincere’ trend of fighters pretending.

What did Aspen Ladd say about the PFL?

The 27-year-old fighter joined the PFL in Oct 2022 after her release from UFC. Significantly, Ladd struggled with weight-cut issues. And after failing to make the weight multiple times, the UFC released the American fighter.

Talking about the MMA industry’s promotion and marketability aspect, the California fighter declared that MMA was not just based on skills. Further, Ladd mentioned that it now rested on how much a fighter could talk or how prominent certain features are. But the PFL was taking those considerations out of the frame.

Following this, the MMAGOLD team representative lauded the promotion. Thus, she said, “It’s just getting back to who’s the best. Who’s the best at what they do. Not at what they say or how they look.”

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Later in the conversation, the MMA fighter stated a couple of reasons that appealed to her. Instead of fighting around the year, the format in PFL is based on tournament style, and therefore gave the fighters a fair idea of the timeline and number of fights.

Ladd and Conor McGregor influence

Subsequently, the 9-3 record holder pointed out how the fighter behaved in contrast to their true nature. Thus, she announced, “There’s a lot of discount Conor [Conor McGregor] these days and they’re doing it just because they want the attention, but it’s so insincere.”

In addition, the former UFC fighter told that neither they were that person nor they were good at that. Addressing the elephant in the room, she mentioned everyone knew why someone tried to present themselves or do things in a certain way.

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Lastly, Ladd announced, “It would be amazing if we were just basically judged on the merits of what we do, but we’re not.”

However, she also admitted that MMA remained an entertainment sport. And therefore, the fighters not only had to be good but also promote themselves in a certain way.

What do you think of these comments by Aspen Ladd? Do you think that the reference to Conor McGregor was justified? Let us know in the comments below.