Las Vegas — Dominican heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta has been calling for a fight with Derrick Lewis for a while now, and at UFC 324, he gets his wish.
As Cortes-Acosta (16-2) explained during Wednesday’s UFC 324 media day, the match-up is special because of Lewis’s fanbase and high profile within the sport of MMA. It’s also important for another reason: it’s allowing the 34-year old to stay active.
“It’s better too, because it’s my sixth fight in 11 months too. I didn’t get a sixth fight in 2025, but I’m having a sixth fight in 11 months,” he stated, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “This is amazing too.”
Later, he’d suggest that “I can make a sixth or seventh fight this year.” Waldo is clearly a fan of keeping up the pace, after fighting five times in 2025.
Asked about training for the UFC’s knockout king, Cortes-Acosta said that “I’m the person that, I’m training hard every time. For Derrick Lewis, when he started, I’d barely been training MMA.” Cortes-Acosta even followed “The Black Beast,” back in the day, noting “he was one of my favorite fighters before, til now too, let me tell you. This Saturday— one day I think, ‘one day you will be fighting with him,’ and look at now. This is real, and next Saturday, January 24, it will be happening. It’s amazing.”
Talk ahead of Cortes-Acosta vs. Lewis has been that with a win, Derrick Lewis could wind up fighting on the UFC White House card. Should Cortes-Acosta get his hand raised, he’d also like a fight on the White House grounds this June. “It’s happening. Can UFC make it happen?” he queried.
“I want to fight [at the] White House. Latino America, everybody, we support it. More clout, so people can see one Latino fighting at the White House,” he stated. He’d also be up for an interim title fight, hopefully at the same location, should heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall be out a while longer.
“It’s possible. It’s possible. I’d be available for the title shot or interim shot, interim title. Any fight the UFC can put on there, I’ll be fighting. I want to fight [at the White House].”
Watch the full UFC 324 media day appearance by Waldo Cortes-Acosta above.
