For the last couple of months, Aspen Ladd and Miesha Tate having been at odds in the media and now Ladd is hoping they can settle their differences in the cage.

Back in October, Ladd was scheduled to take on Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 38, however, the bout was cancelled due to health concerns after Ladd failed to make weight for the contest. After the cancellations, Tate accused Ladd of attempting to cheat the scale to make weight, which Ladd tried to brush off. Two weeks later though, Ladd stepped in on short notice to fight Norma Dumont in a featherweight contest at UFC Vegas 40, and this time Tate felt compelled to speak out again, not at Ladd, but against her coach and boyfriend Jim West, whose aggressive cornering during the bout drew criticism from others as well and led to West issuing an apology. Tate, who has her own experience with dating a coach, suggested that Ladd and West’s relationship was problematic and ultimately unhealthy for the fighter, something that Ladd obviously disagrees with, and now Ladd thinks the time is right for the two to work out their differences the old fashioned way.

“I think she’s definitely stirred the pot quite a bit,” Ladd told MMA Junkie. “We all have life experiences, right? But without knowing what’s happened to another person, you can’t just apply, like, your triggers and what’s wrong with you to them. She has a tendency to see the world through what’s happened to her in the past.

“I don’t want to talk sh*t, but I definitely want that fight. You said some things; let’s go handle this like adults here.”

If Ladd is interested in fighting Tate next though, she may have to wait a while. The former UFC bantamweight champion has said she intends to take some time and enjoy the holidays with her family before she sits down with her team and figures out what her next step is. However, when Tate does return, a fight with Ladd could make a lot of sense. Both women are coming off of losses, with Ladd having lost a unanimous decision to Dumont, and Tate coming up short against Ketlen Vieira in the main event of UFC Vegas 43 just last month, and while Ladd’s loss came at 145 pounds, the UFC’s fourth-ranked bantamweight says she has every intention of returning to 135 pounds next.

“My next fight will definitely be at bantamweight... Every time I’ve tried to do it back-to-back (weight cuts) like that, it hasn’t gone well,” Ladd said. “I really just have to take a long period of time. Like for the fight where it was Macy Chiasson getting pulled out, that was the best weight cut that I’ve had, and it was perfect, but I had been dieting and working out for like – to get to that point, it was about 12 weeks, and that’s about the time period it takes me to do it in a healthy and exact way. So probably no more back-to-back ’35s ever.

“That’s why ’45 has always been interesting to me because I can do a ’35 and then I can do a ’45 a few weeks later. That’s fine, but I just can’t do ’35 and then ’35.”

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VIDEO STEW

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LISTEN UP

Rankings Show. Debating the most contentious choices in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

Heavy Hands. Discussing the biggest fights at UFC Vegas 44.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jan Blachowicz (28-9) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (14-2); UFC Fight Night, Mar. 26.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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