Women’s UFC bantamweight Leslie Smith was initially set to throw down with Aspen Ladd at this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 128. Following a series of events, Smith is no longer on the UFC roster. Now the fighter has come forward with a few words on the matter.
UFC Fight Night 128 is set to go down this Saturday, April 21, offering fight fans a series of exciting match up. Aspen Ladd missed weight for her big bout against Smith at Friday’s weigh-ins, leaving Smith in a difficult position.
Smith would either accept the fight at a catchweight, earning 20 percent of Ladd’s purse in the process. Or, the fighter could decline the match up.
Smith would go on to decline the fight, leaving the match up scrapped from UFC Fight Night 128’s card. Smith was reportedly paid her show and win money from the cancelled fight and then removed from the UFC roster.
Smith only had one fight left on her UFC contract going in to UFC Fight Night 128. By paying the fighter a win bonus for the scrapped match up, the UFC was allegedly able to count the cancelled bout as the completion of Smith’s fight contract.
Reportedly not interested resigning the fighter, Smith is now a free agent. Taking to social media, Smith has now come forward to quell rumors that Aspen Ladd offered her an additional $5,000 to accept the catchweight match up.
Check it out below:
“Ultimately I said I would fight @AspenLaddMMA (who is lying about offering me 5k) if @ufc renewed my contract for one more fight at my current terms and they said no. UFC said they’d pay me $62k NOT to fight, so I would’ve been fighting for $0 since I already had $62k coming.”
Ultimately I said I would fight @AspenLaddMMA (who is lying about offering me 5k) if @ufc renewed my contract for one more fight at my current terms and they said no. UFC said they'd pay me $62k NOT to fight, so I would've been fighting for $0 since I already had $62k coming.
— Leslie Smith (@LeslieSmith_GF) April 20, 2018
