Aspen Ladd was close to facing a former champion on short notice in July.

Sidelined since December 2019 due to injuries, both her own and her opponents, Ladd (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was set to return in July to face Macy Chiasson at UFC on ESPN 27. However, the fight fell apart at the last minute as her opponent suffered a stress fracture in her foot just a couple of days away from their fight.

Hoping to keep her fight week together, Ladd revealed a very short notice matchup with former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate was closer to coming together than previously thought.

“She would have looked like a hero taking that fight on short notice, and it would have been badass,” Ladd recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “I wouldn’t blame somebody for not (taking the fight) just based on she fought the week before, but because she fought that recently and she’s in Vegas, we’ll give this a try.”

Tate made a successful return from retirement the week prior, defeating Marion Reneau via third-round TKO. Although Tate would have been making a quick turnaround on super-short notice, Ladd believes money is what prevented the fight from coming together.

“We could have done it at ’45,” Ladd explained. “We contacted them and she was game, but I suspect she was asking for a dollar amount that the UFC was not gonna do. So, that fight almost happened. Almost. We were just trying anything at that point.

Ultimately, the fight did not come together, and Ladd has since been rebooked to face Chiasson on Oct. 2.

Ladd speaks about the Tate situation in the clip above. Check out the full interview with Ladd in the video below.