MVP MMA merging the PFL into their broader portfolio has many talking including fighters who have previously entered the PFL Smart Cage. The referenced fighter here is Aspen Ladd who is set to make her promotional debut with BKB. After an emphatic BKFC debut, Ladd now steps into the Mighty Trigon to take on former BKB title challenger Bianca Daimoni at BKB 58 in Miami on August 29th.

Ladd competed multiple times for the PFL and also has familiarity with that promotion being involved in mergers as the 31-year-old fought her last MMA fight, as of this writing at least, under the Bellator MMA banner in May 2024 after PFL acquired BMMA. When asked what she thinks of that merger and what it could do in terms of creating a certain ripple effect in the MMA space, Ladd said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

“I think as long as MVP takes control of the situation, it’s a great thing. So I lived real time the merger with Bellator, right. Cuz I was there at that time. They had a 145 lb weight class, which is where I was fighting in both PFL and Bellator. Bellator was the longest standing one. So there was high level opportunity for women at that weight class in those promotions. So, you would think when PFL joined with another promotion with the weight classes, they just take in all the other fighters, right?”

“They ran it into the ground. Like, they did not handle that situation well. Their champions are not fighting for months and months and months. They completely killed off that weight class, which was obviously not great. So going into that one, you were excited. Seeing how they handled it, not at all. But since then they have new leadership. Speaking with MVP and knowing how they have treated the fighters primarily the females.”

“Like they’ve done more for females in combat sports than anybody since Ronda [Rousey] getting into the UFC. So I am a big fan of how they’re handling, not only females in the sport, but their promotion in general. They’re more of a ‘let’s partner and we’ll all be successful’ kind of thing. So, I think as long as; But here’s the thing.”

“I’ve not spoken with and I have no communication with the new owners of PFL. So, I don’t know how they’re handling things. However, with this merger, I think as long as MVP has the reins there, I think it’s a very good thing.”

With MVP MMA and PFL’s merger, “we’ll see how it goes”, per Aspen Ladd

Giving some grace to the Professional Fighters League in the context of some of the ups and downs she anecdotally faced while contracted to that company, Ladd stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

“Yeah, definitely. No, so when PFL was great, they were great. So I actually I enjoyed everything about the tournament format and all that stuff. They were fantastic in the beginning. It’s just from that merger onward, not so much. But yeah, we’ll see how it goes.”

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