Waldo Cortes-Acosta viciously stops exhausted Derrick Lewis with ease at UFC 324

Waldo Cortes-Acosta had no issues dealing with Derrick Lewis at UFC 324.

The Dominican heavyweight stopped Lewis in two rounds after avoiding the majority of his opponent’s attacks in the main card fight.

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After Lewis slipped past the midway point in round two, Cortes-Acosta forced referee Jason Herzog to stop the fight with some nasty heavy ground and pound.

‘Salsa Boy’ has now won eight of his last nine bouts in Dana White‘s promotion and will no doubt be eyeing a fight with UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in the future.

The 34-year-old No. 5-ranked UFC heavyweight called out Curtis Blaydes, who is one spot above him, for a fight next.

What happened in Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Derrick Lewis?

Both heavyweights were hesitant to let their hands go in round one, knowing any strong connection from their opponent would no doubt lead to a knockout.

However, Lewis displayed signs of great athleticism, going high with his left kick a few times, proving that he’s still got elite striking even at the age of 40.

Cortes-Acosta had slightly less output in the opening round but possessed a significant speed advantage over his American opponent.

The Dominican would’ve been happy with the pace he controlled in the first five minutes, with Lewis looking more like he’d just been in a fight.

Lewis went straight for Cortes-Acosta at the start of round two, backing him up to the cage, but was caught on the way in and wobbled.

Cortes-Acosta was barely sweating, compared to what ‘The Black Beast’ was producing, breathing heavier and heavier as time ticked on.

Lewis, however, kept coming, but Cortes-Acosta was too quick for him, hurting the American with his jab.

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UFC 324: Results

Main card

• Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision
• Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision

Preliminary card

• Umar Nurmagomedov def. Deiveson Figueiredo via unanimous decision
• Ateba Gautier def. Andrey Pulyaev via unanimous decision
• Nikita Krylov def. Modestas Bukauskas via third-round KO
• Alex Perez def. Charles Johnson via first-round KO
• Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman via first-round KO
• Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt via first-round KO

Cortes-Acosta continued to avoid any danger from Lewis, who was swinging and missing.

Just after the midway point, Cortes-Acosta popped Lewis with the jab, and Lewis slipped to the canvas.

Cortes-Acosta smelt blood and rushed over to Lewis to unload vicious ground and pound, and the fight was all but over.

The heavyweight clash came on the first UFC main card of 2026, after Jean Silva defeated Arnold Allen and Natalia Silva got the better of Rose Namajunas.