“Three days’ notice. I’m born to fight, coming for everybody.” Waldo Cortes-Acosta wrote on X as his surprising quick turnaround at UFC Qatar became one of the most interesting storylines ahead of the event. To raise the stakes even higher, Salsa Boy was appearing for the fifth time this year, and because of that, UFC fans doubted his chances against Shamil Gaziev. But the Dominican Republic native pulled off one of the most impressive knockouts of the event so far.

From the opening bell, the heavyweights made their intentions known as both came aggressively at each other. Gaziev especially had tremendous success with his forward movement, landing bombs on Cortes-Acosta against the cage. However, in the heat of the exchange, ‘Salsa Boy’ landed a crushing right hook that shut Gaziev’s lights off, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta claimed his fifth victory of the year. After getting the win, he didn’t waste any time trolling Tom Aspinall. 

After his last win against Aspinall’s teammate Ante Delija at UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama, ‘Salsa Boy’ was very critical of the Brit’s disappointing outing at Abu Dhabi. This time as well, Waldo Cortes-Acosta appeared with an eye patch while Bruce Buffer announced his name as the winner of the fight, making fun of the reigning heavyweight champion not continuing after Ciryl Gane poked him in the eye at UFC 321. Then, in the post-fight Octagon interview with Michael Bisping, he didn’t mince words and called out Aspinall as well.

He said, “Hey Tom Aspinall, I told you I go for you, you know. You see me today, what me do. I wanna break your head like that what me doing today.” 

This is a developing story….