Aspen
Ladd had trouble mounting any kind of significant offense in
the
UFC Fight Night 195 main event, and the frustration was
reflected in her corner between rounds.
Ladd’s coach, Jim West, was caught on the ESPN+ broadcast
criticizing the fighter between the third and fourth periods of her
matchup with Norma
Dumont.
“You’re down 3-0,” West said between Rounds 3 and 4. “Please tell
me what you’re doing. You have to throw more than one punch…
fight to win, you have to finish.”
This is ABUSE, what a douche
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate)
October 17, 2021
West’s comments were widely criticized throughout the MMA
community, with former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate
going so far as to call his coaching “abuse.” West, who is also
Ladd’s boyfriend, took to social media to apologize for his
tactics.
“Tonight was not our night. It’s been our night many many times at
the highest level but not tonight. I blame myself,” West wrote on
Instagram. “Though it may not be my fault. it’s not up for debate.
I take all the blame. Yes after the first couple rounds I may have
been a little harsh but i know aspen and at that time technical
conversation was not in the cards being down 3 rounds. Nonetheless
i own it and i am sorry [Aspen Ladd]
from the bottom of my heart I will continue to be better each
time.”
Ladd, who established herself as a contender at bantamweight,
accepted the 145-pound bout with Dumont just two weeks after a bad
weight cut resulted in the cancellation of her bout against
Macy
Chiasson. Ladd hasn’t won a fight since December 2019.
“Not my night. Congrats to my opponent. We will be back better,”
Ladd wrote
on Instagram. “In the meantime, I finally got to get back in there
after nearly 2 years. Now it’s time to take a step back, take a
breath, and get back to fighting and feeling like myself again. On
to the next.”