Waldo Cortes-Acosta has made a statement -- he's coming for a heavyweight title shot. Cortes-Acosta emphasized that with a second-round finish of Derrick Lewis at UFC 324.
Both men came out with stalking intentions, looking to find the opening to land the one power shot each needs. Though Lewis threw a few round kicks, there wasn't much landing from either man during the first round.
Cortes-Acosta's strategy seemed to be to tire Lewis out, and he did a lot of countering and dodging during the first five minutes. It seemed to pay off for Cortes-Acosta early in the second, catching Lewis with a cracking counter. WCA continued to use his jab and dodging speed to give Lewis issues.
Suddenly, in the second round, Lewis appeared to slip. Lewis did not get up immediately, and Cortes-Acosta jumped on, landing a flurry on of ground strikes until the referee waved off the bout.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta Makes Easy Work Of Derrick Lewis At UFC 324
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Cortes-Acosta was one of the UFC's top fighters in 2025, going 4-1. His star power rose in November by scoring a comeback, first-round knockout of Ante Delija at UFC Vegas 110, and then making a quick turnaround and knocking out Shamil Gaziev at UFC Qatar three weeks later.
Lewis is now 3-2 in his last five fights.
