Aspen Ladd’s Appeal of Stoppage in UFC Sacramento Loss Denied by CSAC

Aspen Ladd’s attempt to have her quick technical knockout loss to Germaine de Randamie overturned to a no contest was denied by the California State Athletic Commission on Tuesday.

The commission voted by a 3-to-2 count to uphold de Randamie’s 16-second stoppage victory, which occurred in the UFC Fight Night 155 headliner at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on July 13. A right cross from de Randamie spun Ladd around and sent her tumbling to the canvas, where she landed on her forearms. The Dutchwoman landed just one more punch before referee Herb Dean waved off the bantamweight bout.

The ending was controversial because Ladd appeared as though she would be ready to defend herself from any ensuing blows. In her complaint to CSAC, Ladd claimed gender discrimination factored into the stoppage, and that Dean would have allowed the fight to continue if a male fighter was involved.

"I've had people question my chin more so than a male teammate, for example," Ladd said at the meeting (quotes via ESPN). "It's common for people to believe that we function at a lesser degree than the males in the sport.”

Dean, meanwhile, denied that gender played a role in his decision to wave off the fight, as he felt that Ladd was no longer intelligently defending herself. Interestingly enough, the commission vote was divided along gender lines: Luis Ayala, Vernon Williams and John Carvelli voted to uphold Dean’s ruling, while Martha Shen-Urquidez and Mary Lehman voted to overturn the TKO defeat.

Ladd is scheduled to return to action against Yana Kunitskaya at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7. De Randamie’s victory earned her a title shot, as she will square off against reigning 135-pound queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on Dec. 14.