Aspen Ladd’s quest to challenge Amanda Nunes for UFC championship gold suffered a blow in the main event of UFC Vegas 40 as she suffered a unanimous decision loss to Norma Dumont.
Ladd, who was previously well on her way toward securing a title shot at 135 pounds, headlined against Brazil’s Dumont at the UFC Apex, only to lose on the scorecards after an uncharacteristic display that frustrated her corner and pumped the brakes on a potential title charge.
Dumont boxed smartly from the outside and, though her output wasn’t especially high, it was more than enough to comfortably secure the first three rounds on all three scorecards, with one judge awarding her each of the first four rounds.
Ladd mounted a late charge in the closing seconds of Round 4 as she took Dumont to the mat and hammered her with ground strikes until the buzzer. But, despite a succession of strong pep-talks from her corner, Ladd wasn’t able to do enough to take Dumont into the danger zone in the final round as the bout went to the judges, and the win went Dumont’s way.
The scorecards read 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 as Dumont claimed the seventh win of her career and nudged her a step closer to a featherweight title shot against Nunes, while Ladd will go back to the drawing board after a frustrating night at the office as she struggled to regain her form following the lengthy injury layoff caused by a torn ACL and MCL that required knee reconstruction surgery in 2020.
Arlovski adds another win
The heavyweight co-main event saw veteran former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski edge a tight three-round battle with Brazil’s Carlos Felipe in an entertaining back-and-forth bout.
Arlovski, who is still going strong at 42 years of age, claimed the 32nd victory of his 52-fight MMA career to continue an impressive run of form that has seen him win four of his last five outings inside the octagon.
And after his 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 win on the scorecards, “The Pitbull” could find himself back in the cage against top 10 opposition once again as he shows no sign of stopping, despite his veteran status.
Miller’s still got it
Also on the main card, evergreen campaigner Jim Miller produced one of the big feelgood moments of the night with a stunning knockout victory in his lightweight main card bout with Erick Gonzalez.
Miller and Gonzalez had battled back and forth through a busy opening round, with the debuting Gonzalez appearing to stun Miller mid-way through the opening five minutes.
But, unsurprisingly, Miller hung tough and weathered the storm before exploding in the second round with a huge left hook to finish his man in emphatic fashion just 14 seconds into the round.
It meant Miller snapped a two-fight skid and claimed the 33rd win of his 49-fight career, and put him alongside Demian Maia in second place in the UFC’s all-time wins list with 22.
Fiorot impresses… again
French flyweight Manon Fiorot also produced an impressive display as she enhanced her growing reputation as an emerging contender in the women’s 125-pound division with a unanimous decision win over Brazil’s Mayra Bueno Silva.
Fiorot’s non-stop striking combinations and bottomless gas tank saw her comprehensively outwork and outstrike Silva to earn scores of 30-26, 30-27, 30-27 and serve notice to the top names in the division.
UFC Vegas 40: Full Results
Main Card
- Norma Dumont def. Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
- Andrei Arlovski def. Carlos Felipe via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jim Miller def. Erick Gonzalez via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:14
- Manon Fiorot def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nate Landwehr def. Ludivit Klein via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 3, 2:22
Prelims
- Bruno Silva def. Andrew Sanchez via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:35
- Danny Roberts def. Ramazan Emeev via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Luana Carolina def. Lupita Godinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Danaa Batgerel def. Brandon Davis via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:01
- Ariane Carnelossi def. Istela Nunes via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:57