Midnight Mania! Ladd Shreds Knee, Out Of McMann Fight

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A fairly pivotal women’s Bantamweight clash between Aspen Ladd and Sara McMann scheduled for next weekend’s UFC on ESPN 12 event has been forced off the card. MMAJunkie’s John Morgan reported earlier tonight that Ladd suffered an injury and would be forced to withdraw.

That’s bad news on its own, but ESPN’s Ariel Helwani revealed that it’s more than a minor injury. Ladd has reportedly torn both her ACL and MCL, essentially shredding her knee and likely sending her under the knife.

Though Ladd is quite young and likely to recover quickly at 25 years of age, nine months to fight again seems like a rather low estimate. It’s a majorly unfortunate turn of events for Ladd, who is currently ranked within the Bantamweight top five and was potentially fighting for a title shot opposite McMann.

As for McMann, her night of work probably grows much easier. If UFC can find a replacement, her new opponent will only have about a week to prepare for the Olympic silver medalist.

Insomnia

Yo … WTF?

After a long period of dark news regarding Khabib’s father, this is great to hear!

More important than another fairly standard poster, EA UFC 4 has been revealed!

Francis Ngannou really puts a damper on Curtis Blaydes’ otherwise perfect career. I do think we’ll see a third fight someday though, they’re both too good and too young for it not to happen.

Former UFC Featherweight Clay Collard continued his spoiler run in boxing last night, handing yet another undefeated prospect his first loss. MMA angles FTW!

Some grappling highlights from debuting UFC fighter Max Rohskopf, who faces Austin Hubbard on very short-notice tomorrow.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Superman punches work more than they don’t, but when things go wrong … they go real wrong!

Mismatches knockouts count the same on a professional record as more trained opponents.

One more throwback fight from who knows how long ago to finish the week!

Random Land

The translucent blue tang surgeonfish!

Midnight Music: At nearly 80 years of age, Bob Dylan released his 39th (!!!) studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways today. His first LP of original songs since 2012, it’s already quite widely being hailed by critics. For myself, the 70-minute album will require more listening before any true revelations can be made, but I can say that I very much like this contemplative album.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.