UFC Fight Night 155: de Randamie vs. Ladd | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Daniel Cornmeat
- May 21
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 155: de Randamie vs. Ladd took place on Saturday, July 13, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California — broadcast live on ESPN+ as ESPN+ 13. The card drew 10,306 fans for a gate of $938,734.17. The main event was a women’s bantamweight bout between Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd.
De Randamie stopped Ladd with a TKO at 0:16 of round one in a result that generated significant post-fight discussion about the stoppage’s appropriateness. Urijah Faber returned from a 2.5-year retirement to stop Ricky Simon in 46 seconds in the co-main event before a Sacramento hometown crowd. Josh Emmett stopped Mirsad Bektic in round one. The Sacramento card closed with three consecutive first-round knockouts. John Allan’s decision win was later overturned to a No Contest after a positive drug test.
Sacramento — Ladd’s Weight Crisis & Three R1 KOs
Golden 1 Center is the Sacramento Kings NBA arena, holding approximately 17,000. The 10,306 UFC attendance was a commercially strong result for a return Sacramento visit. Ladd’s weight cut had been one of the Sacramento card’s pre-event stories: she had weighed in while visibly shaking and grimacing, required a curtained scale for privacy, and appeared near tears before making the 135 lb bantamweight limit. Doctors examined her and cleared her to fight. The California State Athletic Commission later revealed that Ladd had gained 18 percent of her body weight between the weigh-in and the fight.
The pre-fight narrative’s competitive stakes were significant: the winner of GDR vs. Ladd was considered the next BW title challenger for Amanda Nunes. Faber’s return was the co-main commercial attraction: Faber had retired after his December 2016 UFC 199 loss to Jimmie Rivera and had not competed since. His Sacramento-area connection — he trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento — made his Golden 1 Center appearance one of the year’s most emotionally resonant hometown returns.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, July 13, 2019 (ESPN+ 13; Golden 1 Center Sacramento)
📍 Venue: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
👥 Attendance: 10,306
💰 Gate: $938,734.17
📺 Broadcast: ESPN+ 13 (ESPN+ streaming)
🏆 Main Event: Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd — Women’s BW (GDR inaugural UFC Women’s FW champion; Ladd unbeaten 8-0 entering; Ladd HORRIFIC weight cut day before; both cleared to fight)
✅ Result: de Randamie def. Ladd via TKO (punch) — R1, 0:16 (CONTROVERSIAL Herb Dean early stoppage; GDR overhand right to jaw; Ladd appeared to fall while still conscious; CSAC later suspended Ladd’s BW licence; Ladd gained 18% body weight between weigh-in and fight)
Main Event: GDR’s 16-Second TKO & The Stoppage Controversy
De Randamie was 35 years old at Sacramento, the inaugural UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion who had been stripped of that title for refusing to defend it against Cris Cyborg, citing Cyborg’s past PED history. Her Sacramento BW appearance was her fourth consecutive win entering the fight. Ladd’s 8-0 professional record and aggressive grappling-forward style made her the division’s most commercially anticipated young contender.
Ladd moved toward de Randamie with high guard and quick head movement in the opening seconds. When she dropped her left hand to throw, de Randamie’s overhand right connected with her jaw. Ladd’s knees buckled; her body stiffened as she fell slowly to the mat. De Randamie threw a follow-up left punch; referee Herb Dean intervened at 0:16. The stoppage generated immediate controversy: Ladd appeared conscious throughout the sequence, and her team characterised the intervention as premature. De Randamie and Dean defended the stoppage as correct.
Faber’s Hometown Return, Emmett’s R1 TKO & The Card
Urijah Faber’s return to competition at Golden 1 Center was one of the year’s most commercially anticipated individual UFC events. Faber had retired after his loss to Jimmie Rivera at UFC Fight Night 102 in December 2016 and had spent 2.5 years as a Team Alpha Male coach and UFC ambassador. His Sacramento appearance — before the hometown crowd that had celebrated his WEC championship career and his multiple UFC title shots — was one of the emotionally resonant fight night events of the 2019 season. His 46-second KO of Ricky Simon earned Performance of the Night.
Josh Emmett’s first-round TKO of Mirsad Bektic at 4:25 of round one was the third consecutive R1 KO on the Sacramento main card, following de Randamie’s 16-second TKO and Faber’s 46-second KO. Emmett — a 34-year-old Sacramento, California FW — was fighting in his hometown and produced the Sacramento crowd’s third local connection of the evening after Faber’s return and Ladd’s local Folsom, California origin. The Sacramento card’s three closing R1 KOs were described as one of the most exciting main card finishes of the ESPN+ era.
Full Results
Main Card (ESPN+)
Germaine de Randamie def. Aspen Ladd — TKO (punch) — R1, 0:16 — Women’s BW (PoN $50k; CONTROVERSIAL Herb Dean stoppage; Ladd’s 1st career loss; GDR 5th consecutive win; CSAC suspended Ladd’s BW licence; Ladd gained 18% weight between weigh-in and fight)
Urijah Faber def. Ricky Simon — KO (punch) — R1, 0:46 — BW (PoN $50k; FABER RETURNED from 2.5-year retirement; Sacramento HOMETOWN HERO at Golden 1 Center; Simon was 11-1 entering)
Josh Emmett def. Mirsad Bektic — TKO (punches) — R1, 4:25 — FW (PoN $50k; Emmett Sacramento native; 3RD CONSECUTIVE R1 KO to close the card!)
Karl Roberson def. Wellington Turman — Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) — MW
Marvin Vettori def. Cezar Ferreira — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — MW (Vettori building MW career; future MW title challenger!)
John Allan def. Mike Rodriguez — LHW (RESULT LATER OVERTURNED TO NO CONTEST; CSAC found Allan tested positive for tamoxifen in fight-night test; 1-year suspension)
Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Jonathan Martinez def. Pingyuan Liu — BW (Martinez building BW career)
Briana Van Buren def. Livia Renata Souza — Women’s SBW
Benito Lopez def. Vince Morales — BW
Chase Hooper vs. [opponent] — FW (Hooper building FW career)
Brian Kelleher vs. [opponent] — BW (Kelleher building BW career)
Note: Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose cancelled due to Dariush injury
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Germaine de Randamie + Urijah Faber + Josh Emmett — $50,000 each (THREE PoN; three consecutive R1 KOs!)
Records & Milestones
• Three consecutive first-round knockouts to close the Sacramento main card — GDR (0:16) + Faber (0:46) + Emmett (4:25).
• Ladd’s first professional loss — ending an 8-0 unbeaten record after horrific weight cut.
• Faber’s Sacramento return — 2.5 years after retirement; 46-second KO in his Sacramento home arena.
Legacy & Impact
De Randamie’s Sacramento win produced the UFC BW title fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 245 in December 2019, where Nunes won by unanimous decision across five rounds. Ladd’s Sacramento loss was the beginning of a career defined by weight-cutting challenges: her CSAC BW licence suspension was the most visible regulatory consequence, but weight-related fight cancellations continued in subsequent years. Faber’s Sacramento return KO produced subsequent fights against Petr Yan and Jimmie Rivera before his permanent retirement.
Emmett’s Sacramento PoN TKO of Bektic was a step in the FW career that produced wins over Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic (this was Emmett vs. Bektic) and additional top-ten FW fights. Marvin Vettori’s Sacramento UD of Ferreira was part of his MW career build that produced the UFC MW title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 in June 2021. Jonathan Martinez’s Sacramento preliminary win was an early step in the BW career that produced wins over Cody Stamann, Rob Font, and Song Yadong.
FAQ
What was the Herb Dean stoppage controversy?
Dean intervened at 0:16 after de Randamie’s overhand right sent Ladd to her knees with a slow fall to the mat. The controversy centred on Ladd’s post-stoppage behaviour: she appeared alert and aware immediately after the fight was stopped, leading her team and many media observers to characterise the stoppage as premature. Dean’s standard for stoppage requires intelligent defence; Ladd’s fall and position without defensive movement met that standard in Dean’s judgment. De Randamie characterised the stoppage as correct. Ladd’s weight cut context — gaining 18% of her body weight between weigh-ins and the fight — added a separate dimension to the competitive discussion.
What was Ladd’s weight cut situation?
Ladd weighed in at 135 lbs after a physically demanding cut that had left her visibly shaking and grimacing during the weigh-in process. The California State Athletic Commission’s post-fight analysis revealed she had gained 18% of her body weight between the weigh-in and the fight — a figure that reflected extreme dehydration during the cut and rapid rehydration afterward. The CSAC suspended her bantamweight licence and required extensive medical documentation before reinstatement. The Sacramento result became one of the year’s most discussed weight-cutting medical consequence cases.
What was Faber’s Sacramento return context?
Faber was a 39-year-old Citrus Heights, California BW who had retired after his third title shot loss to Dominick Cruz at UFC 199 in December 2016, then a subsequent loss to Jimmie Rivera at UFC Fight Night 102. He had spent 2.5 years as a Team Alpha Male coach and commentator. His Sacramento return at Golden 1 Center — the NBA arena in the city where he built his UFC career — before a crowd that had followed him since his WEC championship era was one of the sport’s most emotionally resonant individual retirement reversal moments of 2019.
What was Marvin Vettori’s Sacramento significance?
Vettori was a 26-year-old Mezzocorona, Italy middleweight who had gone 12-3 professionally before Sacramento. His Sacramento UD over Ferreira was one of a run of consecutive wins building toward a UFC MW title fight. His subsequent wins over Andrew Sanchez, Jack Hermansson, and Karl Roberson placed him as the #1 MW contender entering the Israel Adesanya rematch at UFC 263 in June 2021.
What was Josh Emmett’s Sacramento result?
Emmett was a 34-year-old Sacramento, California FW who had gone 14-1 professionally before Sacramento. His Bektic TKO at 4:25 of round one was his return to winning after an April 2018 TKO loss to Shane Burgos at UFC Fight Night 129. Bektic was a 26-year-old Swedish-Bosnian FW who had been considered a top-five FW prospect. Emmett’s Sacramento hometown TKO of Bektic was his most commercially visible individual UFC result to that point.
What was John Allan’s tamoxifen result?
Allan was a 29-year-old Finnish LHW who had recorded a decision win over Mike Rodriguez in the Sacramento main card. The California State Athletic Commission announced on August 13, 2019 — one month after the fight — that Allan’s fight-night test had returned a positive result for tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator. Allan received a one-year suspension. His win was overturned to a No Contest, removing the result from his record.
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