Ladd replaces Budd, set to fight Harrison at PFL championship event

Kayla Harrison will take on a different opponent than expected at the Professional Fighters League championship event on Nov. 24.

A 150-pound catchweight bout between Harrison, the two-time PFL women's lightweight champion, and former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd will take place at the event, the promotion announced.

Ladd, who was training as an alternate, is replacing former Bellator women's featherweight champion Julia Budd on two weeks' notice. Budd was removed from the fight after she "refused to fulfill her contractual obligation," the PFL said in a press release.

Harrison, who's 15-1 as a pro, will be making her first appearance of 2023. She won the women's lightweight tournament in 2019 and 2021. Harrison reached the finals in 2022 but suffered her first career loss to Larissa Pacheco.

Ladd has fought in the PFL three times since parting ways with the UFC in 2022. She holds a 2-1 record in the promotion and is coming off a submission win over Karolina Sobek in June. Ladd went 1-1 this season and missed the playoffs.