Waldo Cortes-Acosta is kicking off his 2026 campaign with a top-10 matchup against Derrick Lewis at UFC 324.
After a hyper-active 2025, Cortes-Acosta (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) rapidly shot up the UFC's heavyweight rankings, landing at No. 5. His first assignment of the new year will be against Lewis (29-12 MMA, 20-10 UFC), who currently holds the No. 8 spot. UFC 324 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 24 – the first numbered event of the Paramount era.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCortes-Acosta was rumored to squeeze in a sixth fight this year, but that wasn't in the cards. His year began with a second-round stoppage of Ryan Spann in March, followed by a decision nod over Serghei Spivac and a decision loss to Sergei Pavlovich. "Salsa Boy" rebounded with a first-round finish of Ante Delija after an awkward sequence of events, and then made a three-week turnaround to fight Shamil Gaziev on three days' notice in Qatar – a fight he finished by knockout in 82 seconds.
While Cortes-Acosta was a busybody in 2025, Lewis made only one appearance. "The Black Beast" met Tallison Teixeira in a July headliner that only lasted 35 seconds. The knockout victory for Lewis made it back-to-back wins, following a third-round stoppage of Rodrigo Nascimento in May 2024.
The current UFC 324 lineup includes:
Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett – for interim lightweight title
Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes – for women's bantamweight title
Sean O'Malley vs. Song Yadong
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis
Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Nikita Krylov
Alexa Grasso vs. Rose Namajunas
Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulayev
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 324: Waldo Cortes-Acosta gets Derrick Lewis on 1st Paramount card
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