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Following Sean Brady’s withdrawal due to an injury in his scheduled main event against Gabriel Bonfim, the UFC has arranged a last-minute heavyweight headliner for November 7 featuring Waldo Cortes-Acosta against Johnny Walker. Heavy.com confirmed the new matchup following an initial report by Brazilian MMA journalist Laerte Viana, with Cortes-Acosta currently holding the number six spot in UFC Media rankings and number eight in UFC Meta rankings, while Walker sits at number 12 in the Meta rankings.
Cortes-Acosta Seeks to End Skid
Even with the short notice, Cortes-Acosta recognizes that a victory is essential. Entering the UFC in 2022 via the Contender Series, the Dominican heavyweight was initially projected as a future top-10 contender before suffering a unanimous decision loss to Marcos Rogério de Lima in his third promotional appearance. Although the initial hype cooled, he rebounded with five consecutive victories, including wins over Serghei Spivac and Ryan Spann, which earned him a bout against Sergei Pavlovich.
Pavlovich defeated Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision last August, after which Cortes-Acosta embarked on a rapid finishing run, stopping Ante Delija, Shamil Gaziev, and Derrick Lewis within 90 days. That streak secured him an opportunity against top contender Alexander Volkov earlier this year, where Volkov neutralized him over three rounds. Following a subsequent underwhelming performance against Curtis Blaydes, Cortes-Acosta enters the bout looking to halt a two-fight losing streak.
Walker Moves Up to Heavyweight
For Johnny Walker, the bout represents a major chance to break into the division’s top eight in only his second heavyweight appearance, following his transition from light-heavyweight earlier this year. Walker competed in the light-heavyweight division from 2018 to 2026, initially rattling off three consecutive first-round victories before experiencing a rough patch where he won just one of five fights. He later put together a three-fight winning streak between 2022 and 2023 to re-enter title contention.
Knockout losses to Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir in 2024 preceded a rebound win over Zhang Mingyang last year, prompting Walker to discuss a move to heavyweight. Despite those initial talks, he remained at light-heavyweight to face Dominick Reyes, losing a split decision before officially making the jump. Earlier this month, he secured a first-round knockout victory over Mick Parkin, setting the stage for his meeting with Cortes-Acosta.
UFC Vegas 124 Fight Card
The event takes place in Las Vegas on November 7, with the main card featuring Waldo Cortes-Acosta versus Johnny Walker, Tatiana Suarez against Virna Jandiroba, Davey Grant facing Elijah Smith, SeokHyeon Ko meeting Wellington Turman, Mantas Kondratavičius taking on Andre Petroski, and Billy Elekana fighting Lucas Fernando.
The preliminary card includes Gabriel Lorenço versus Thomas Petersen, Karine Silva against Gabriella Fernandes, Mitch Raposo facing Marcos Degli, José Delano meeting Murtazali Magomedov, Keiichiro Nakamura taking on Ollie Schmid, Austin Bashi fighting Lucas Brennan, Priscila Cachoeira versus Nina Milošević, and Jonny Parsons facing José Henrique Souza, as originally reported by HEAVY.
