Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s 2025 has been unreal.
Stepping up on just a few days’ notice after Shamil Gaziev’s original opponent, Serghei Spivac, pulled out during fight week, Cortes-Acosta (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) hopped on a plane and flew across the world to fight Gaziev (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) on the main card of UFC Fight Night 265 in Doha, Qatar. “Salsa Boy” ended the fight in 82 seconds.
Advertisement
From the start, Gaziev pressured heavily, but that played right into what Cortes-Acosta wanted. He rocked and dropped Gaziev early in the first round, but didn’t get the finish there. Gaziev got back up, but he was clearly damaged. A moment later, a laser of a right hand landed, sending Gaziev down and out for good.
Check out video of the finish below (via Instagram):
“Hey, Tom Aspinall, I told you, I go for you, you know?” Cortes-Acosta said during his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “You see me today what I do. I want to break your head like that.”
Cortes-Acosta also said he wants to get in his sixth fight of 2025 next month at UFC on ESPN 73 in Las Vegas.
Advertisement
The Dominican heavyweight’s year has been nothing short of incredibly impressive. He began his year with a second-round finish of Ryan Spann in March. In June, he won a unanimous decision against Spivac. He then hit a bump in the road, losing a decision to Sergei Pavlovich in August. Then, just three weeks ago, he got back on track with a bizarre first-round finish of Ante Delija.
Gaziev suffers just the second loss of his career, halting the momentum of back-to-back wins over Don’Tale Mayes and Thomas Petersen.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 265 results:
-
Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Shamil Gaziev via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:22
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Qatar: Waldo Cortes-Acosta wins fifth fight of the year by KO
