Heavyweight contenders Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Curtis Blaydes are expected to face off soon.
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Damon Martin confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Cortes-Acosta (17-3) vs. Blaydes (19-6, 1 NC) is in the works for Noche UFC 4 on Sept. 19, with a location still to be determined. The bout was first reported by MMA Junkie.
The No. 7-ranked Cortes-Acosta had a memorable 2025 campaign, winning his first two fights before losing a decision to Sergei Pavlovich in May of last year. He bounced back quickly with three consecutive wins, including a pair of victories in November over Ante Delija and Shamil Gaziev, and capped off his campaign with a second-round knockout over Derrick Lewis.
Unfortunately for Cortes-Acosta, he was unable to continue his success in his first fight of 2026, losing a decision to Alexander Volkov at UFC 328.
Blaydes (No. 8) has been unable to string together wins in recent years having lost three of his past five fights. In his most recent outing at UFC 327, Blaydes lost a decision to Josh Hokit in a thrilling three-round brawl that earned both men a $100,000 bonus for winning the Fight of the Night award.
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