At this time one week ago, UFC heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta (16-2) was in his home country of The Dominican Republic on the heels of his big win over former PFL champion Ante Delija.
In that fight, “Salsa Boy” was poked badly in the eye during a sequence that initially led to Delija seemingly getting a TKO victory. However, after replay showed that Cortes-Acosta was clearly poked in the eye, the fight was restarted after Cortes-Acosta had his time to recover. Almost immediately after, Cortes-Acosta dropped and finished Delija.
This past weekend at UFC Qatar, Shamil Gaziev (14-2) was scheduled to get an opportunity to face a top-ten opponent in Serghei Spivac. However, just days before the fight, Spivac came down with an illness and pulled out of the fight. The promotion called Cortes-Acosta and he immediately agreed to the fight.
It was an 18-hour flight from The DR to Qatar for Cortes-Acosta and he ultimately landed the morning of weigh-ins. Cortes-Acosta had to cut 12 pounds and he did tipping the scales at the heavyweight limit, 265 pounds.
Cortes-Acosta made quick work of his opportunity in Qatar when he starched Gaziev just 1:22 into the first round.
What’s next after UFC Qatar?
There is nothing more that Dana White loves more than guys who want to fight all the time and guys who jump at the opportunity to save a fight for the UFC.
Cortes-Acosta was an 18-hour flight away from Qatar and the fight was just a couple of days away. Without hesitancy, he flew into Qatar like a paid assassin, starched Gaziev and cashed a performance of the night bonus.
Back in August, Cortes-Acosta lost a decision to Sergei Pavlovich. Cortes-Acosta said he wasn’t himself in that loss and he’s learned so much from that fight. Since then, he’s turned around quickly with two first round knockout wins just in the last three weeks.
Despite losing to Sergei Pavlovich, I would actually put Cortes-Acosta ahead of Pavlovich in the pecking order at heavyweight. In terms of what’s next for him, it’s obvious that the UFC is going to run back the heavyweight title fight with Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane after their first fight ended in a No Contest.
That night, Alexander Volkov won a decision over Jailton Almeida that would put most casual fight fans to sleep. That was supposed to be a title eliminator but that’s not the case with the way this thing shook out. Volkov needs to get back in there again and he needs to get in there with Salsa Boy with a title fight on the line.
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