Waldo Cortes-Acosta
“Salsa Boy”
Waldo Cortes-Acosta is ranked 9th of 235 heavyweights by the First Light Rating, and 6th in the UFC’s own heavyweight rankings.
- FLRFirst Light Ratingmeasure of true skill
- 2,0489th of 235 · Heavyweight
- FLIFirst Light Indexfame compared to skill
- −0.01Skill ahead of fame
- Career phase
- DevelopingCareer-best FLR 2,074, 24 Jan 2026
- Record
- 17–4Pro
Fame against skill.
Every fighter with an FLI, by skill and fame. Hover a dot for the fighter; click to open their page. The dashed curve is the fame their skill predicts: above it, a fighter is more famous than their skill; below it, better than their fame.
Skill and attention.
Attention is drawn at the skill level its fame matches: above the skill line, more famous than skilled. Shaded: where the most similar careers went next.
Recent fights.
| Date | Fight | FLR |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Sept 2026 | Lost to Curtis BlaydesUFC Fight Night 288 - Noche UFC 4 · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | −14 |
| 9 May 2026 | Lost to Alexander VolkovUFC 328 - Chimaev vs. Strickland · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | −12 |
| 24 Jan 2026 | Won vs Derrick LewisUFC 324 - Gaethje vs. Pimblett · TKO (Punches), R2 | +23 |
| 22 Nov 2025 | Won vs Shamil GazievUFC Fight Night 265 - Tsarukyan vs. Hooker · KO (Punch), R1 | +33 |
| 1 Nov 2025 | Won vs Ante DelijaUFC Fight Night 263 - Garcia vs. Onama · KO (Punches), R1 | +27 |
| 23 Aug 2025 | Lost to Sergei PavlovichUFC Fight Night 257 - Walker vs. Zhang · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | −9 |
| 7 Jun 2025 | Won vs Serghei SpivacUFC 316 - Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2 · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | +26 |
| 15 Mar 2025 | Won vs Ryan SpannUFC Fight Night 254 - Vettori vs. Dolidze 2 · TKO (Punches), R2 | +32 |
| 11 May 2024 | Won vs Robelis DespaigneUFC on ESPN 56 - Lewis vs. Nascimento · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | +25 |
| 13 Jan 2024 | Won vs Andrei ArlovskiUFC Fight Night 234 - Ankalaev vs. Walker 2 · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | +22 |
| 26 Aug 2023 | Won vs Lukasz BrzeskiUFC Fight Night 225 - Holloway vs. Korean Zombie · KO (Punches), R1 | +27 |
| 29 Apr 2023 | Lost to Marcos Rogerio de LimaUFC on ESPN 45 - Song vs. Simon · Decision (Unanimous), R3 | −10 |
FLR is the First Light Rating points the fight earned or cost them.
How it is measured.
Data Credit: First Light Observatory.
How these numbers are made.
First Light may hold interests in athletes covered by the Index.