A heavyweight matchup between Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Ante Delija will no longer headline UFC’s upcoming Fight Night event on Nov. 1 from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, although the two fighters will still compete on the card.
Instead, rising featherweight finishers Steve Garcia and David Onama have been penciled in to handle main event duties. MMA reporter Marcel Dorff leaked the news on Friday, while MMAmania.com confirmed the “Fight Night” shakeup independently.
This matchup makes a little more sense considering Cortes-Acosta is coming off a loss in his last Octagon outing and Delija just made his UFC debut earlier this month. A featherweight scrap between Garcia and Onama may not be the best matchup on paper, but it’s a walking “Fight of the Night” candidate.
Garcia, 33, has been one of the hottest fighters in UFC’s jam-packed featherweight division over the past three years. During that span, Garcia has turned in a 5-0 record at 145 pounds while adding in a victory at lightweight as well. “Mean Machine” has proven to be one of the most heavy-handed strikers in the division and with one more win could catapult himself into the top 10.
Onama, 31, is coming off a huge performance against former featherweight contender Giga Chikadze this past April to push his current UFC win streak to four. The well-rounded Ugandan fighter has produced an overall UFC record of 6-2 since his debut back in 2021 and could also crack the featherweight top 10 with a win over Garcia.
What do you think, Maniacs? Do you like this main event clash more than Cortes-Acosta vs. Delija?
