Waldo Cortes Acosta

Compare with another fighter

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Nickname“Salsa Boy”

Record

17-3

Streak

L1

Age

34

Date of birth

Oct 3, 1991

Fighting out of: Fundacion, Barahona
Born: Dominican Republic
Camp: Ultimate Kombat Fitness
Weight class: Heavyweight
Height: 6'4" · 193 cm
Reach: 78" · 198 cm
Stance: Orthodox
Last fight: May 9, 2026

UFC fight history

ResultOpponentMethodDetailEvent

Curtis Blaydes

Curtis BlaydesUpcoming

Noche UFC: Rodriguez vs Silva · Sep 12, 2026

Noche UFC: Rodriguez vs Silva

Alexander Volkov

#2Alexander Volkov

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland · May 9, 2026

UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland

Derrick Lewis

#8Derrick Lewis

Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head On Ground · R2 · 3:14

UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett · Jan 24, 2026

Punches to Head On Ground

UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett

Shamil Gaziev

#11Shamil Gaziev

Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Punch to Head At Distance · R1 · 1:22

UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker · Nov 22, 2025

Punch to Head At Distance

UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker

Ante Delija

Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Punch to Head At Distance · R1 · 3:59

UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama · Nov 1, 2025

Punch to Head At Distance

UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama

Sergei Pavlovich

#3Sergei Pavlovich

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang · Aug 23, 2025

UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang

Serghei Spivac

#7Serghei Spivac

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2 · Jun 7, 2025

UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2

Ryan Spann

Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head From Guard · R2 · 4:48

UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 2 · Mar 15, 2025

Punches to Head From Guard

UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 2

Robelis Despaigne

Robelis Despaigne

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento · May 11, 2024

UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento

Andrei Arlovski

#15Andrei Arlovski

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2 · Jan 13, 2024

UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2

Lukasz Brzeski

Heavyweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head At Distance · R1 · 3:01

UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie · Aug 26, 2023

Punches to Head At Distance

UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie

Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon · Apr 29, 2023

UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon

Chase Sherman

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cutelaba · Nov 19, 2022

UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cutelaba

Jared Vanderaa

Heavyweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen · Oct 29, 2022

UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen

Dana White's Contender Series

1-0across 1 bout · wins by 1 KO

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	Danilo Suzart10-3	KO/TKO	punches	R1	3:40	Dana White's Contender Series	Aug 2, 2022

Dana White’s Contender Series — a UFC-adjacent proving ground, shown as its own tier. Excluded from Schedule Score and UFC-scoped metrics.

Outside the UFC

6-0across 6 bouts · 5 promotions · wins by 3 KO · 1 sub · 2 decLFA · Bellator · RUF MMA 43 · RUF MMA 42 · Iron Boy Promotions

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	Thomas Petersen11-4	KO/TKO	Punches	R3	4:53	LFA	Apr 15, 2022
W	Derrick Weaver7-8	KO/TKO	Punches	R2	0:22	LFA	Feb 11, 2022
W	Muhammed DeReese9-5	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	Bellator	Nov 12, 2021
W	Jordan Powell12-11	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	RUF MMA 43	Aug 29, 2021
W	Edison Lopes12-9	Submission	Kimura	R1	3:12	RUF MMA 42	Jul 31, 2021
W	Odell Pantin3-3	KO/TKO	Punch	R2	1:23	Iron Boy Promotions	May 19, 2018

Non-UFC bouts (regional/other promotions) — shown for context only, excluded from Schedule Score, striking/grappling rates, and every UFC-scoped metric.

Amateur

6-1across 7 amateur bouts · 4 promotionsWFF · RITC · UMMAF · RUF MMA

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	Jonathan Robertson0-1	KO/TKO	Retirement	R1	3:00	WFF	May 14, 2016
W	Jonathan Bradberry1-2	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	1:22	UMMAF	Apr 3, 2016
L	Dustin Clements6-4	Decision	Unanimous	R3	3:00	RITC	Oct 24, 2015
W	Robert Edmiston0-4	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	0:30	RITC	Aug 15, 2015
W	Jason Windham3-3	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	2:56	RUF MMA	Jun 20, 2015
W	James Mack0-1	KO/TKO	Punches	R2	2:22	WFF	Feb 21, 2015
W	Jeremy Cardinal1-1	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	0:28	WFF	Feb 7, 2015

Amateur (pre-professional) bouts — shown for context only and excluded from the professional record and every UFC-scoped metric.

Career striking

OverallB66th

48%759 / 1,561

Striking accuracy

54%

Striking defense

Sig. strikes / min+1.71 differential

Landed5.34

Absorbed3.63

64%str + td

Defensive rating

Striking edge

+2%accuracy vs opp. landing

worseevenbetter

Strike maps

Sig. strikes by target

Head71%88th537
Body15%67th113
Leg14%76th109

Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes

Sig. strikes by position

88%Standing

Standing88%669
Clinch3%24
Ground9%66

Striking zones

Per-15-minute breakdown — where this fighter lands, and where they get hit.

UFC only

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Landed per 15

Head

A+

91st

55.0

91st

Body

B

70th

11.6

70th

Leg

A

79th

11.2

79th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Absorbed per 15

Head

A

75th

21.7

75th

Body

D

31st

11.1

31st

Leg

F

5th

21.4

5th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Career totals — landed / attempted

Landed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	55.0	537	1,260	43%
Body	11.6	113	164	69%
Leg	11.2	109	137	80%

Absorbed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	21.7	212	795	27%
Body	11.1	108	150	72%
Leg	21.4	209	222	94%

UFCStats career rates, per 15 minutes. Percentiles vs the division; absorbed is inverted so higher is better.

Pace & fade

Round-by-round work rate, and whether they fade.

UFC only

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Waldo Cortes Acosta

13 UFC bouts (per‑round) · 146 min

146%

R3 pace · 8 bouts

Acosta builds (+15% per round through round 3). Within fights that reached round 3, Acosta lifts to 146% of round-1 output by round 3 (8 bouts).

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Acosta ▲ BUILDSOutput / min

Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.

Full per-round breakdown

What drives the pace · per round

The composite output line above blends these three inputs — splitting them out shows whether the work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control, and which input fades.

Sig. strikes landed

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Acostalanded / min

Takedown attempts

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Acostaattempts / min

Control time

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Acosta% of round

Round	Output / min	Sig landed / min	Sig absorbed / min	TD att / min	Control	Bouts
R1	4.5	3.8	3.1	0.07	14%	13
R2	6.7	6.3	3.7	0.04	7%	10
R3	6.3	5.9	4.2	0.05	6%	8

Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length.

Schedule Score

Opponent quality, ranked across the UFC. Recent fights weighted heavier.

UFC only

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Waldo Cortes Acosta

13 resolved UFC bouts · 7 ranked at the time

Schedule Score

63/ 100

0255075100

Schedule strength

A+

86th

59%

86th

Win quality

A+

94th

65%

94th

Opponent quality distribution

Every UFC bout, grouped by who the opponent was at the time.

4

4

1

4

Top-5Ranked #1–#5 at the time
Ranked 6–15Ranked #6–#15 at the time
Cross-div rankedRanked #1–#15 in another division at the time
UnprovenFewer than 3 fights, or sub-.40 win rate

Tier	Bouts	Record	Win rate
Top-5	4	2-2	50%
Ranked 6–15	4	3-1	75%
Cross-div ranked	1	1-0	100%
Unproven	4	4-0	100%

Highest-quality opponents

Toughest opponents on the scheduleScore, scored at the time of the fight.

All bouts — opponent quality bout-by-bout

Res	Opponent	Tier	Score	Date
L	Alexander Volkov#2	Top-5	87	May 9, 2026
W	Derrick Lewis#8	Top-5	82	Jan 24, 2026
W	Shamil Gaziev#11	Ranked 6–15	67	Nov 22, 2025
W	Ante Delija#9	Ranked 6–15	70	Nov 1, 2025
L	Sergei Pavlovich#3	Top-5	88	Aug 23, 2025
W	Serghei Spivac#7	Ranked 6–15	74	Jun 7, 2025
W	Ryan Spann	Cross-div ranked	45	Mar 15, 2025
W	Robelis Despaigne	Unproven	8	May 11, 2024
W	Andrei Arlovski#15	Top-5	78	Jan 13, 2024
W	Lukasz Brzeski	Unproven	8	Aug 26, 2023
L	Marcos Rogerio de Lima	Ranked 6–15	58	Apr 29, 2023
W	Chase Sherman	Unproven	8	Nov 19, 2022
W	Jared Vanderaa	Unproven	8	Oct 29, 2022

Per-bout quality scoring: champion = 100; same-division ranks 1–5 = 90 → 78 linear; ranks 6–15 = 75 → 60 linear; cross-division champion = 78; cross-division ranked = 45; title-fight challenger (no rank signal) = 50, bumped to 65 when opp had an elite career UFC record at the time. Unranked opponents are scored on UFC record-at-time (long-tenured vet 60, contender-level 45, established 30, building 18, unproven 8). P4P top-10 at time adds +5; top-3 adds +8 (capped at 100). The Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) and quality wins (35%), then is held toward a rookie baseline for fighters with limited UFC experience so a thin résumé reads honestly low.