LAS VEGAS – Waldo Cortes-Acosta beat Andrei Arlovski with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the main card at UFC Fight Night 234 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Cortes-Acosta, who won for the second straight time after the first loss of his career.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
Result: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Cortes-Acosta (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), Arlovski (34-23 MMA, 23-17 UFC)
Key stats: Arlovski outstruck Cortes-Acosta 58-50.
Cortes-Acosta on the fight's key moment
“It was part of the strategy (to talk trash) because there are a lot of fighters, and Andrei Arlovski, when you get to his head fighting, or you talk to him, I don’t know if you noticed, but in the second round he started to want to fight, but he was starting to lose it little by little, and that didn’t affect him much when I started talking to him.”
Cortes-Acosta on wrestling
“I want to teach more than I can give. It’s a little more than what Waldo can give. … I want people to see that I’m not just a puncher. I want to go to the floor. My coach is a black belt. I compete with him. I compete with national wrestling champions. I want to go to the floor, too. I want to let all my fans know that I can also go to the floor.”
Cortes-Acosta on what he wants next
“Yes, I have a fighter: (I want to fight) Jon Jones. He is one of the fighters that has always stood out for his movement, for his everything. And you know that the ‘Salsa Boy’ is always making his move. Maybe we’ll see the ‘Salsa Boy’ grow little by little and make a move and learn like Jon Jones and do it like him. I want to fight Feb. 24 in Mexico.”
To hear more from Cortes-Acosta, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.