Updated Heavyweight Rankings After UFC 324: Where Does Cortes-Acosta Land After Big Win?

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the UFC kicked off its 2026 schedule with its first major event of the year, UFC 324. On the main card of the event, fan-favorite heavy hitter Derrick Lewis returned for a clash with fellow top-10 fighter Waldo Cortes Acosta.

The Dominican proved to be too fast for the UFC veteran. Scoring a second-round TKO over the exhausted 40-year-old. Get a look at our updated UFC heavyweight rankings following Acosta’s victory.

10. Derrick Lewis (29-13)

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A three-fight losing streak knocked Derrick Lewis out of the top 10 for the first time in a few years. However, he won three of four to begin a late career resurgence. Although there was a smidge of controversy in his first-round KO win over Tallison Teixeira in July 2025, he still beat a fast-rising fighter who was the favorite in their UFC Nashville main event.

In January, he returned at UFC 324. However, “Black Beast” looked old and slow in a clash with rising star Waldo Cortes Acosta. The Dominican’s speed proved to be a big problem for him, and he was handed a surprising TKO loss in Round 2.

9. Shamil Gaziev (14-2)

ufc heavyweight rankings — Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Former Brave CF star Shamil Gaziev has put together a notable run in the division. Although a doctor stoppage in 2024 gave him his first loss, the Dagestani big man is 3-1 in the Octagon, including two nasty knockouts. Gaziev is a rising heavyweight fighter to keep an eye on. However, he took a big risk in November when he okay’d a short-notice fight with Waldo Cortes Acosta. The decision backfired, and he suffered a stinging knockout loss.

8. Marcin Tybura (27-9)

Marcin Tubura has quietly been a mainstay of the UFC heavyweight rankings over the last half-decade. While he owns a 14-8 record in the company, he has grown immensely as a fighter in the last few years. He is 10-3 in his last 12, with his only losses coming to elite talents Alexander Volkov, Serghei Spivac, and current interim heavyweight king Tom Aspinall.

In March, he picked up a hard-fought win over Aspinall’s trainer partner and one of the better rising prospects in the division, Mick Parkin.

7. Jailton Almeida (22-4)

Jailton Almeida is one of the better heavyweights in the world because of an outstanding grappling game that has earned him wins over Derrick Lewis and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. However, he has also had some key setbacks that have kept him out of title opportunities.

That happened again at UFC 321 when he was not able to overcome top-10 stalwart Alexander Volkov. He will now need a couple of wins to get back into the title fight conversation.

6. Sergei Pavlovich (20-3)

Sergei Pavlovich has been an absolute crushing machine during much of his UFC career. After a loss to Alistair Overeem in his debut, he reeled off six straight wins, and all of those victories came by way of a devastating knockout. However, a two-fight losing streak stopped all of his momentum. But he has righted the ship in 2025 and scored a pair of decision wins. The most recent was against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in Shanghai.

Dominican big man Waldo Cortes Acosta has quietly become a serious force in the heavyweight division. In his 12 bouts inside the Octagon, he has posted 10 wins, including against some notable talents in the top 15. The latest came in January at UFC 324 against fan-favorite Derrick Lewis.

“Salsa Boy” showed why he is one of the more athletic and polished strikers in the division when he added a two-time challenger to his hit list inside the Octagon.

4. Curtis Blaydes (19-5)

While there have been some very tough losses in the career of Curtis Blaydes, he has remained a top-five level heavyweight for much of the last decade. At UFC 299, he had an opportunity to finally right his big-fight wrongs and did so in a major way when he handed Jailton Almeida his first loss in the Octagon.

The win moved “Razor” into a UFC 304 title fight against Tom Aspinall. Unfortunately, his big fight curse returned, and after a strong start suffered a TKO loss in Round 1. At UFC Baku, the talented wrestler returned and was able to grind out a hard-fought win over Rizvan Kuniev. But the victory did little to get him back into title contention.

3. Alexander Volkov (39-11)

Alexander Volkov has been a top-level MMA heavyweight for a long time. While he has been unable to earn a UFC title shot, he has remained a stalwart of the top 10 for years. To many who watched UFC 310, he scored a victory against Ciryl Gane that should have earned him a title. However, the judges did not score it his way, and he suffered a crushing defeat to the Frenchman.

In October, he bounced back from the setback to get himself right back into title contention by scoring a very hard-fought split-decision win over top-five talent Jailton Almeida.

2. Ciryl Gane (13-2)

Ciryl Gane is a fantastic athlete and the most technical heavyweight striker in the sport. It is why he is consistently in the title discussion. However, his wrestling deficiencies continue to be a problem, and they showed up again in his UFC 310 clash with Alexander Volkov. Fortunately for “Bon Gamin,” he was able to escape with a decision win.

The victory earned him a title opportunity at UFC 321. However, the good luck he had against Volkov turned to bad, and his chance at winning UFC gold again was stopped after just a few minutes when he poked champ Tom Aspinall in both eyes and caused a fight-ending no-contest.

1. Tom Aspinall (14-3)

Englishman Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight in the UFC. That became official when MMA GOAT Jon Jones decided to walk away from the sport earlier this year. The Englishman has beaten many of the best fighters in the division for the last three years and is the undisputed top big man in the eyes of most UFC fans.

After definitively avenging the lone loss of his UFC career in the summer of 2024, he made his first defense of the undisputed title in October. Unfortunately, a nasty eye poke from opponent Ciryl Game ended the UFC 321 main event after just a few minutes. An immediate rematch early in 2026 seems likely.

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