Denied!

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Aspen Ladd and her team went before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) earlier today (Tues., Oct. 15, 2019) to defend their case after filing an appeal to have Ladd’s 16-second knockout loss to Germaine de Randamie at UFC Fight Night 155 this past July overturned.

Also in attendance was referee Herb Dean, the man tasked with officiating the fight between the two top Bantamweight contenders. Indeed, after Germaine tagged Ladd with hard right that dropped her, she quickly went in to land some more punishment, connecting on only one more punch before Dean stepped in to call the bout.

Much to the chagrin of Aspen, of course.

Ladd and Co. claimed that had it been a man, he would have been awarded a bit more time to recuperate, and the stoppage wouldn’t have occurred so quickly. In his defense, Dean was adamant that he was not a “gender discriminator.”

In the end, the commission voted 3-2 to keep the original technical knockout (TKO) loss call intact.

“I respect the commission’s vote today, we lost 3-2, life rolls on and I’m looking forward to my next scrap,” Ladd said in a statement to MMA Fighting. Interestingly enough, despite defeating Ladd rather quickly, Germaine was not awarded a $50,000 performance bonus.

The loss was Aspen’s first of her professional MMA career, bringing her record to 8-1, 3-1 UFC. It also cost her a shot at the division strap, as Germaine was awarded a championship bout against division champion, Amanda Nunes, set for UFC 245 on Dec. 14, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As for Ladd, she will look to get back in the win column when she faces Yana Kunitskaya on Dec. 7 at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C.