What Should Be Next for ‘Salsa Boy’ After His Crazy Comeback Victory?
Waldo Cortes Acosta had his five-fight winning streak broken this year by Sergei Pavlovich at UFC China. However, he was in a co-main event bout last Saturday to try and redeem himself before the year ends. He faced off against the dangerous, heavy-handed Ante Delija, and after a strange eye poke knockout that ended up getting reversed, he was able to continue to fight and knocked Delija out in the very next round. In one of the weirdest situations that has ever transpired in the world of combat sports, a devastating loss turned into an improbable victory and could propel Acosta to a title shot soon. I will break down two fights I think Acosta could have next as he looks to climb closer to a title shot.
Waldo Cortes Acosta vs Curtis Blaydes
Curtis Blaydes is a former interim title challenger and is currently the number four-ranked Heavyweight. He did not have a good performance last time out, Rizvan Kuniev, but was still able to get the victory. This fight makes sense as Blaydes has fought a lot of the other challengers who are already ranked. If this fight were to take place on the feet, Acosta would have a distinct advantage as he mixes up his targets well and butchers people's legs with heavy calf kicks. He has good takedown defense, as he has shown throughout his career, but Blaydes is on a different level of grappling. If he can get this fight to the ground, it will be very hard for Acosta to get up. Cardio-wise, Acosta is better, and that could play a factor, but I think Acosta has a wiffleball of a right hand, and if it lands, which it will, he will be able to knock out Blaydes and get himself into the top four of the division. I believe this is the best stylist matchup for ‘Salsa Boy’.
Waldo Cortes Acosta vs. Jailton Almeida
What a disaster class performance Jailton Almeida put on in his last fight against Alexander Volkov. That was one of the worst showings of an easy victory we have ever seen. Almost the entire fight was Almeida on top, controlling Volkov, and he just didn’t throw any significant strikes at all. I’m not sure what the UFC is going to do with Almeida next, but this is another great opportunity for Acosta to get into the top five, with Almeida still being ranked at five. Acosta on the feet would knock out Almeida with any shot that lands, and he knows Almeida is going to shoot, so an uppercut or knee could be the big final blow in this fight. However, if Almeida decides to learn Ju-Jitsu or utilize it in this fight, he will dog walk Acosta. Wrestling-wise doesn’t matter how good you are, Almeida will double-leg and slam you on your back. Once you're on your back, you're not getting up, so if he tries to finish by attacking submissions or doing ground and pound, I’m not sure if Acosta has good ground defense, so it will be tested to the highest extent in this fight. I would be incredibly surprised if Almeida fights the same way on the ground as he did in his last fight, but he may be afraid to, so he may stand a little more than usual, and that would give Acosta a great chance to finish him.
Both of these fights are going to have a similar narrative to them, as it’s going to come down to whether Acosta can stay on his feet or not. One matchup is far more challenging than the other, so we will see which direction Acosta and the UFC take moving forward. Acosta has already started to throw shots at the current champion, Tom Aspinall, and after knocking out his close friend, there is some bad blood brewing there, so Acosta could sneak his way past the line sooner than we think. Whichever way the UFC decides to go, you're not going to want to miss ‘Salsa Boy’ and his dangerous right hand.
