Leslie Smith was set to fight Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night: Atlantic City, but after Ladd missed weight, disaster struck. Smith, fighting on the last bout of her contract, tried to negotiate for another deal. The UFC indicated they didn’t want her services anymore, but were willing to pay her the full amount of her purse. In this interview from my radio show, Smith explains why she didn’t take the fight against Ladd, what her release means for her unionization effort known as Project Spearhead and more.
The Luke Thomas Show airs weekdays, 3 to 6pm ET, on SiriusXM RUSH, channel 93.
2018-04-21
It because she wouldn't fight anyway. UFC gets pissed about that kind d of stuff.
Interesting little mess. One perspective being that the UFC wants fighters that want to fight even if their opponent misses weight by 2lbs. The other being that the UFC no longer wanted her services out of spite for her not taking the fight. I understand her math about guaranteed money but as a competitor I'm surprised she didn't want to fight. I guess the moral of the story is if you are on your last fight you better show up.
Seen this coming :/
She played herself.
UFC played their cards rather sneakily.
Aspen Ladd did everything she could to make this fight happen, EXCEPT MAKE WEIGHT. GTFOH.
This was exactly the sort of thing Chael Sonnen was just ranting about. These fighters, especially the lesser-relevant ones like Smith, have no appreciation for the public not knowing or caring about them. The UFC just paid her significantly more than she was worth (in any objective, non-feels-based assessment of the revenue she would generate). This is one of the best days of her ungrateful life.
Should have fought! Got to step up for these things.
don't bite the hand that feeds
Also, the UFC is paying Leslie Smith to "go away"