13 things about UFC fighter Waldo Cortes-Acosta from Fundacion, Barahona

Waldo Cortes-Acosta is a Dominican professional mixed martial artist fighting out of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. He is 6’4″ tall and he competes in the heavyweight division.

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BIOGRAPHY

Currently, Cortes-Acosta is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. His fight name is Salsa Boy.

Cortes-Acosta is a blue belt in Brazilian jiujitsu. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He was born in Fundación, Barahona, Dominican Republic.
2. From Fundación, he moved to Phoenix.
3. He was a professional baseball player before he became an MMA fighter.
4. He competed in Iron Boy Promotions, Ringside Unified Fighting, Bellator MMA and Legacy Fighting Alliance before joining the UFC.
5. He and Sophia Lastra have four children together.
6. He holds a professional MMA record of 14 wins and 2 losses and a professional boxing record of 6 wins and 4 losses.
7. In 2015, he defeated Jeremy Cardinal, James Mack and Robert Edmiston in amateur MMA bouts.
8. In 2016, he defeated Jonathon Bradbury and Jonathan Robertson in amateur MMA bouts.
9. On May 19, 2018, he made his professional MMA debut.
10. On February 14, 2019, he and Lastra got married.
11. On October 29, 2022, he made his UFC debut.
12. On October 3, 2024, he turned 33.
13. On February 18, 2025, Sanctuary Multifamily LLC filed a civil case against him and Lastra.

TIMELINE

From 2018 to 2025, Waldo Cortes-Acosta fought 16 professional MMA opponents. Here are the results:

2018

• On May 19, 2018, he knocked out Odell Pantin at “Iron Boy MMA 11” in Phoenix.

2021

• On July 31, 2021, he submitted Edison Lopes at “RUF MMA 42” in Phoenix.
• On August 29, 2021, he defeated Jordan Powell via unanimous decision at “RUF MMA 43” in Phoenix.
• On November 12, 2021, he defeated Muhammed DeReese via unanimous decision at “Bellator 271” in Hollywood, Florida, USA.

2022

• On February 11, 2022, he defeated Derrick Weaver via technical knockout at “LFA 124” in Phoenix.
• On April 15, 2022, he defeated Thomas Petersen via TKO at “LFA 129” in Prior Lake, Minnesota, USA.
• On August 2, 2022, he defeated Danilo Suzart via TKO at “Dana White’s Contender Series 2022” Week 2 in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On October 29, 2022, he defeated Jared Vanderaa via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 213” in Enterprise.
• On November 19, 2022, he defeated Chase Sherman at “UFC Fight Night 21” in Enterprise.

2023

• On April 29, 2023, he lost to Marcos Rogerio de Lima via unanimous decision at “UFC on ESPN 45” in Enterprise.
• On August 26, 2023, he knocked out Lukasz Brzeski at “UFC Fight Night 225” in Kallang, Singapore.

2024

• On January 13, 2024, he defeated Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 234” in Enterprise.
• On May 11, 2024, he defeated Robelis Despaigne at “UFC on ESPN 56” in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

2025

• On March 15, 2025, he knocked out Ryan Spann at “UFC Vegas 104” in Enterprise.
• On June 7, 2025, he defeated Serghei Spivac via unanimous decision at “UFC 316” in Newark, New Jersey, USA.
• On August 23, 2025, she lost to Sergei Pavlovich via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 257” in Shanghai, China.