A heavyweight showdown between the surging Waldo Cortes-Acosta and UFC knockout king Derrick Lewis arrived at UFC 324 on Saturday.
In the balance? Possibly a shot at UFC White House in June. Lewis, one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s favorite fighters, seemed like a no-brainer for the event. Waldo Cortes-Acosta, however, had voiced interest in appearing on the card himself, where he could represent Latin Americans.
Lewis and Cortes-Acosta both had their right hands cocked and loaded to start Saturday’s heavyweight scrap. Lewis, however, went high with a kick that was blocked. His next move was to fire an outside leg kick, but there wasn’t much on it. Cortes-Acosta fired a couple low kicks. Another high kick for Lewis was trailed with a jab.
A couple of swings by Lewis missed or didn’t land clean. Waldo caught a kick and dumped Lewis, but rather than getting on top, allowed “The Black Beast” to get back up. Back on the feet, Lewis fired off another high kick. Towards the end of the round, Cortes-Acosta landed his jab, but didn’t have much behind it.
Lewis landed a kick to the body early in the second, forcing Cortes-Acosta back. Waldo, however, appeared to hurt Lewis, then landed a knee to the body. If Lewis had been hurt, and not just off-balance, he recovered quickly. Lewis backed Cortes-Acosta up, taking some big swings, but the Dominican bounced off the fence and escaped. He worked his jab, working a more measured pace compared to Derrick Lewis, who was loading up on things.
With two minutes left, Lewis appeared to fall to his back, off a barely-there short punch from Cortes-Acosta. Waldo’s jab had just hit the chin, and Lewis might have slipped a bit, but either way, he sat down. Cortes-Acosta got on top, Lewis moved to his knees, and Waldo began unloading with punches. That was enough to bring in the ref, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta had another big victory in his march to a possible heavyweight title shot.
After the bout, Cortes-Acosta told Joe Rogan that he was “not surprised” by the outcome. He then called out Curtis Blaydes, who he accused of talking a “lot of trash,” and promised to “shut him up.”
Official Result: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Derrick Lewis by TKO, Round 2, 3:14
