UFC's Waldo Cortes-Acosta calls for top contender bout vs. Curtis Blaydes next
Waldo Cortes-Acosta wants to prove he's worthy of a UFC title shot, and he knows to do that he'll have to take difficult fights.
The rising heavyweight contender called for one of the tougher challenges in the UFC heavyweight division following his unanimous decision win over Serghei Spivac this past Saturday at UFC 316. Cortes-Acosta (13-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) wants to throw down with former UFC interim title challenger and long-time contender Curtis Blaydes.
"Like I told you before the fight, God willing, if UFC allows it, I'd like to fight against Curtis Blaydes," Cortes-Acosta told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "I want to prepare 100 percent and give it my all, and see what happens. I can prepare myself physically better, and work hard like I always do. I do know that I need to work hard now that I'm facing these guys because they're more advanced, more experience."
Cortes-Acosta, who's on a five-fight winning streak, thinks doesn't see himself too far from title contention, and thinks a win over Blaydes could close him that gap. The Dominican fighter sees a showdown against Blaydes very much like his fight on Saturday – a striking affair that will eventually get his opponent to start wrestling.
"I think that's a fight that will mainly lay out in the feet, but the moment things get complicated for him, he's going to look for the takedowns," Cortes-Acosta said. "That's what happened in this fight When Spivac started having difficulty striking, he looked to take the fight to the ground because I started catching him. The moment I began connecting my jab, I thought, 'I found him. I got this.'"
As far as his win over Spivac, some people online scored the fight for the Russian fighter despite Cortes-Acosta out landing Spivac in significant and total strikes in every round of the fight. He disagrees with the "robbery claims" and thought he clearly won the fight.
"The first round, I had a tough time figuring him out," Cortes-Acosta explained. "I was a little confused, and I couldn't find him with my jab. Then after, towards the end of Round 1, I began to find my jab. I do give him the first round. He looked better. However, in the second, my accumulation of strikes was too much. Then in the third, my coach said I connected more than 100 strikes. So yeah."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gaston Reyno wants to take BKFC event to Uruguay: 'It would be a dream come true'
Gaston Reyno has one wish: to close out his fighting career in his hometown of Montevideo, Uruguay. Reyno, a former Bellator fighter and current UFC Spanish commentator for Latin America, returns to action this Saturday at BKFC 78 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla. Reyno sees this bout against Milton Volter as an opportunity to shoot his shot with the big bosses and make his case for the promotion to pay a visit to Uruguay. Advertisement "I would love to close out my career at the Antel Arena," Reyno told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "When the UFC went to Uruguay at the Antel Arena, I couldn't fight. I had a contract with another company (Combate Global), and we tried everything, and we couldn't make it happen. ... I still have Antel Arena in sight. I've never fought at home. The only time I've fought at home was at Punta del Este, which is home but not home. In Punta del Este there are more Brazilians and Argentinians than Uruguayans. I want to fight in Montevideo and I want to fight in that arena. "If I win, and win well, I'm going to grab that microphone, look at Feldman and Conor McGregor and tell them that I want to take BKFC to South America. BKFC has never gone to South America, how is that possible? They did seven events in Asia. They did an event in Dubai. They had an event in a bull fighting arena in Marbella, an amazing event. How come we don't have an event in South America? I'd love to open that door from Uruguay. I'd retire on top. Reyno, 39, is arguably the most well-known MMA fighter to come out of Uruguay. Although no longer fighting in MMA, Reyno still feels the backing of his country. He's confident BKFC could sell out the Antel Arena just like the UFC did in their first and only trip to Uruguay. "Tonga" wants to fight on home soil before he calls it quits. It doesn't matter who it's against. Advertisement "If I fight a monster and I get broken, who cares, I don't care about the result," Reyno said. "I don't want to be champion, become a millionaire. I'm happy with my life. I live commentary. I love where I work. I'm in love with my wife. I love my son. I adore the city I live in. I'm a happy man. I just want one thing: Share a night with my people in Montevideo, Uruguay. It sounds cliché, but it would be a dream come true. It would be the closing of my career." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gaston Reyno wants to take BKFC event to Uruguay
USA Today
6 hours ago
- USA Today
Gaston Reyno wants to take BKFC event to Uruguay: 'It would be a dream come true'
Gaston Reyno looks to close out his career on home soil. Gaston Reyno has one wish: to close out his fighting career in his hometown of Montevideo, Uruguay. Reyno, a former Bellator fighter and current UFC Spanish commentator for Latin America, returns to action this Saturday at BKFC 78 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla. Reyno sees this bout against Milton Volter as an opportunity to shoot his shot with the big bosses and make his case for the promotion to pay a visit to Uruguay. "I would love to close out my career at the Antel Arena," Reyno told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "When the UFC went to Uruguay at the Antel Arena, I couldn't fight. I had a contract with another company (Combate Global), and we tried everything, and we couldn't make it happen. ... I still have Antel Arena in sight. I've never fought at home. The only time I've fought at home was at Punta del Este, which is home but not home. In Punta del Este there are more Brazilians and Argentinians than Uruguayans. I want to fight in Montevideo and I want to fight in that arena. "If I win, and win well, I'm going to grab that microphone, look at Feldman and Conor McGregor and tell them that I want to take BKFC to South America. BKFC has never gone to South America, how is that possible? They did seven events in Asia. They did an event in Dubai. They had an event in a bull fighting arena in Marbella, an amazing event. How come we don't have an event in South America? I'd love to open that door from Uruguay. I'd retire on top. Reyno, 39, is arguably the most well-known MMA fighter to come out of Uruguay. Although no longer fighting in MMA, Reyno still feels the backing of his country. He's confident BKFC could sell out the Antel Arena just like the UFC did in their first and only trip to Uruguay. "Tonga" wants to fight on home soil before he calls it quits. It doesn't matter who it's against. "If I fight a monster and I get broken, who cares, I don't care about the result," Reyno said. "I don't want to be champion, become a millionaire. I'm happy with my life. I live commentary. I love where I work. I'm in love with my wife. I love my son. I adore the city I live in. I'm a happy man. I just want one thing: Share a night with my people in Montevideo, Uruguay. It sounds cliché, but it would be a dream come true. It would be the closing of my career."
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Drew Timme expected to lead pack of Nets rookies throughout summer league
LAS VEGAS — With all Brooklyn eyes on the record crop of Nets rookies, it was second-year pro Drew Timme who stole their thunder in the summer league opener. 'Yeah, we told him we need him to be a rock. Him and Tosan [Evbuomwan] need to be our steady forces. They need to be the ones who settle everything if it's getting hectic,' assistant coach Steve Hetzel said after Timme was the leading scorer in the 90-81 summer league loss to Oklahoma City. 'We've sent a message to Drew to come out here and try to be the best player, try to show the rest of the league how good he is. We really like Drew. … He has some real, real skill. We think very highly of him. And so this is kind of what we expect out of him.' Advertisement 3 Drew Timme #26 of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles the ball during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2025 NBA Summer League game on July 10, 2025 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBAE via Getty Images Timme scored a team-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting versus OKC, with nine rebounds and a block in 29:30. He had a dozen points on 6-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter. 'Yeah, he's got skill, like you saw. He's great,' Nolan Traore said. 'So being able to play with a smart guy like that who can play the low post is really helpful for the team, so it's good.' Advertisement With four of their five first-round picks playing in summer league, the Nets will challenge Timme to show leadership in Las Vegas. 3 Drew Timme #26 of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2025 NBA Summer League game on July 10, 2025 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBAE via Getty Images 'Of course. As with anyone that's a little bit older, you just learn the ropes quickly and just try to learn bits and pieces from them. He's just an easygoing guy and kind of always there for advice,' said Danny Wolf, who started at power forward alongside Timme. 'He's an awesome guy, he had a great game tonight. Just a fun guy to be around. He's awesome.' Timme is on a non-guaranteed contract, vying to get Brooklyn's lone open two-way spot. Advertisement 'Well, we have a lot of roster players, so I'd say that the starting lineup is yet to be determined,' Hetzel said. 'But he's got to try to make the team, and then we'll go from there.' 3 Grant Nelson #16 and Drew Timme #26 of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2025 NBA Summer League game on July 10, 2025 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBAE via Getty Images Brooklyn's Spanish head coach Jordi Fernández invited Valencia head coach Pedro Martínez and Spanish hoops star Anna Cruz to be guest assistants as the Nets prepared for summer league. Cruz, who played for the Liberty and is from Fernández's hometown of Badalona, continued as a guest in Las Vegas. Advertisement Follow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Check out more newsletters 'Oh, we love having [Martínez] around. We sat down with Coach Pedro so he could teach us some of his offensive rebounding rules. They've led the league for many years; stole a couple ideas from him,' Hetzel said. 'And Anna's been super helpful on the court. She's wonderful. She has such an established career. It's nice to have her around.' Dariq Whitehead commented to The Post about the addition of Michael Porter Jr.: 'It's a great addition for us. An older vet, a champ, we know what he can do. So to get to play with him and learn, it'll be a good opportunity for all of us.'
