On September 19, the UFC 331 event takes place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Waldo Cortes-Acosta puts his top-5 ranking on the line in a heavyweight showdown against Curtis Blaydes.
Multiple sources have confirmed the match-up to Heavy.com after an initial report by journalist Danny Segura. Contrary to initial reports listing Noche UFC, the heavyweight matchup is actually scheduled for Los Angeles.
Cortes-Acosta Needs To Defend His Spot In The Top 5
Waldo Cortes-Acosta started his professional MMA career at the age of 27. The fighter from the Dominican Republic originally came to the US to play Baseball and later made the transition to boxing. In MMA, he started in the regional scene of Arizona, winning his first four fights and signing with the LFA promotion. After beating Derrick Weaver, Cortes-Acosta won the heavyweight title by finishing Thomas Petersen. With a 6-0 record, he fought for a UFC contract in 2022 during the Contender Series against Danilo Suzart. Cortes-Acosta won and was rewarded with a contract. After two decision wins in the UFC to end the year, Cortes-Acosta came up short against Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
The first loss of his professional MMA career. The Dominican fighter bounced back with wins over Andrei Arlovski and Robelis Despaigne. With a three-fight winning streak, he started the year 2025. One of the best years of his career so far. Cortes-Acosta fought five times and won four fights. Ryan Spann, Ante Delija, and Shamil Gaziev all got knocked out. Only Sergei Pavlovich was able to beat Cortes-Acosta. The Dominican started this year great with a win over Derrick Lewis, but a narrow loss to Alexander Volkov prevented Cortes-Acosta from likely challenging for the title. Now he has to defend his spot in the top 5 of the division when he takes on Curtis Blaydes.
One Of The Most Respected Heavyweight Fighters Of All Time
Although he has never fought for the undisputed heavyweight title, Curtis Blaydes is widely regarded as one of the most respected heavyweights in UFC history. A promotional mainstay for more than a decade, Blaydes has spent the vast majority of his tenure ranked in the top 10. Blaydes signed with the UFC in 2016 and debuted against later champion Francis Ngannou. Blaydes lost but went on a six-fight unbeaten streak in the UFC with wins over Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. It got him a rematch against Ngannou. Blaydes lost again and had to work his way to the top again. With four wins, including victories over Alexander Volkov and former champion Junior Dos Santos, Blaydes was on the brink of a title shot but got stopped by Derrick Lewis.
Blaydes bounced back with three more wins (including a TKO victory by injury against Tom Aspinall) but lost against Sergei Pavlovich. Again, right before he would be next for a title shot. Blaydes then won against Jailton Almeida by knockout and got his opportunity to fight for the interim title in a rematch against Tom Aspinall. Aspinall was too strong and finished Blaydes this time in the first round. Last year, Blaydes returned and won in an uneventful fight against Rizvan Kuniev. Unfortunately for the American fighter, he was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision earlier this year against Josh Hokit. The amazing fight got awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. Despite losing, Blaydes gets an opportunity to fight his way back in the top 5 against Waldo Cortes-Acosta.
UFC 331 – Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles) – September 19
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Curtis Blaydes
- Marlon Vera vs. Charles Jourdain
Top 8 Heavyweights Collide at UFC 331 in Los Angeles