- UFC UFC legend wants Topuria vs Makhachev at the White House
- UFC Aleksandre Topuria makes weight at UFC Qatar and his fight with Almakhan is official
What Waldo Cortes-Acosta (16-2) achieved at UFC Qatar is one of the stories of the year in mixed martial arts. The Dominican arrived in Doha on two days' notice after Spivac's withdrawal. He landed after an 18-hour flight from Phoenix to Qatar an hour before Friday's weigh-in. He had also fought in early November and this was his fifth fight in 2025, a new record. With all this context, he went into the cage and knocked out Gaziev (14-2) in a minute and a half. Barbaric.
'The Caribbean Pirate', trademarked after the triumph over Delija in which he recovered from an eye poke, is already asking for Tom Aspinall... and even values a fight on December 13, at the Apex in Las Vegas, to raise the record a little more and set six fights in 2025. One of the most attractive heavyweights because of his way of fighting and his ability to always go to the fight, never shying away from it.
"I wanted to make history," he said after his victory. And he certainly did. It is to be hoped that 'Salsa Boy' can break into the top five of the heavyweight rankings this Tuesday. His record, 9-2 in the UFC for this former baseball player, is unheard of in a category, the UFC's highest division, which lacks stars. His willingness to fight and his last-minute 'save' in this fight (after Spivac's withdrawal due to illness) has made him someone very much loved by the UFC.
I wanted to make history
"I slept 13 hours before the fight," he said after his victory, explaining how he was able to acclimatize to the brutal time difference between Phoenix and Doha. He came with his trainer and his wife, nothing more. And he continues to give them both joy.