Aspen Ladd pounds out Lina Lansberg in 2nd round

After a frustrating opening round, Aspen Ladd’s corner offered a suggestion. Perhaps she should change levels and look to take down Lina Lansberg rather than letting Lansberg (7-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) continue to stifle her in the clinch.

Ladd (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took that advice to heart, and a few minutes later she was mounted on top of Lansberg, raining down blows until referee Lukasz Bosacki called the bout off at the 2:33 mark of Round 2.

The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of yesterday’s UFC Fight Night 118 event at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Although it ended well, Ladd’s UFC debut didn’t exactly get off to a flawless start. Almost immediately she found herself stuck against the fence as Lansberg pressed forward into the clinch, suffocating Ladd’s offense in close as she looked to work her short-range elbows from close range. After giving away almost the entirety of the first round that way, Ladd needed a change in strategy. She got it from her coaches, who suggested the level change and takedown that would eventually help Ladd get the fight to the floor early in the second. Once Ladd freed herself from Lansberg’s half-guard, she moved straight to mount, hammering Lansberg with punches and elbows, screaming with every blow in a way that seemed to communicate the urgency of the situation to the referee Bosacki.

After Lansberg turned over, proving incapable of freeing herself from the position, Bosacki stepped in just a little past the midway point, handing Ladd the TKO victory.

With the win in her UFC debut, Ladd maintains her perfect professional record. Lansberg has now lost two of her past three.

(mmajunkie)