HonestElo
← heavyweight

Waldo Cortes Acosta "Salsa Boy"

Active #8 heavyweight · age 34 · Orthodox · 6'4" 193 cm · 260 lb 118 kg · reach 78" 198 cm
At a glance
  • Has never been finished — durability signal
  • Earned a bonus in 2 of last 5 fights
  • 50% of wins by KO/TKO
  • 30% of wins finished in round 1
Elo rating
1601
Global Elo 1640 ±30
Rank
#8
top 17% of division
UFC record
10-3-0
KO 5 · Sub 0 · Dec 5
Streak
-1
Δ90d -15 · Δ1y +20
Last fight
May 9, 2026
Loss by Decision · R3
Career at a glance
Octagon time
2h 26m
Avg fight time
11:16
Bonuses
2
Fights per year
3.7
Since last fight
1mo

Honest Elo history

13 fights · tap & drag
Oct 29, 2022 — W vs Jared Vanderaa Δ+22Nov 19, 2022 — W vs Chase Sherman Δ+21Apr 29, 2023 — L vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima Δ-27Aug 26, 2023 — W vs Lukasz Brzeski Δ+27Jan 13, 2024 — W vs Andrei Arlovski Δ+31May 11, 2024 — W vs Robelis Despaigne Δ+14Mar 15, 2025 — W vs Ryan Spann Δ+18Jun 7, 2025 — W vs Serghei Spivac Δ+15Aug 23, 2025 — L vs Sergei Pavlovich Δ-15Nov 1, 2025 — W vs Ante Delija Δ+15Nov 22, 2025 — W vs Shamil Gaziev Δ+16Jan 24, 2026 — W vs Derrick Lewis Δ+19May 9, 2026 — L vs Alexander Volkov Δ-15 14501500155016001650 2023202420252026 [{"i":0,"x":90,"y":358,"elo":1483,"date":"2022-10-29","opp":"Jared Vanderaa","result":"W","delta":22},{"i":1,"x":101.7,"y":323.9,"elo":1504,"date":"2022-11-19","opp":"Chase Sherman","result":"W","delta":21},{"i":2,"x":191.7,"y":367.8,"elo":1476,"date":"2023-04-29","opp":"Marcos Rogerio de Lima","result":"L","delta":-27},{"i":3,"x":258.3,"y":325,"elo":1503,"date":"2023-08-26","opp":"Lukasz Brzeski","result":"W","delta":27},{"i":4,"x":336.5,"y":275.9,"elo":1534,"date":"2024-01-13","opp":"Andrei Arlovski","result":"W","delta":31},{"i":5,"x":403,"y":253.7,"elo":1548,"date":"2024-05-11","opp":"Robelis Despaigne","result":"W","delta":14},{"i":6,"x":575.2,"y":225.2,"elo":1566,"date":"2025-03-15","opp":"Ryan Spann","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":7,"x":622.2,"y":200.7,"elo":1581,"date":"2025-06-07","opp":"Serghei Spivac","result":"W","delta":15},{"i":8,"x":665.2,"y":225,"elo":1566,"date":"2025-08-23","opp":"Sergei Pavlovich","result":"L","delta":-15},{"i":9,"x":704.3,"y":200.7,"elo":1581,"date":"2025-11-01","opp":"Ante Delija","result":"W","delta":15},{"i":10,"x":716.1,"y":175.3,"elo":1597,"date":"2025-11-22","opp":"Shamil Gaziev","result":"W","delta":16},{"i":11,"x":751.3,"y":145.4,"elo":1615,"date":"2026-01-24","opp":"Derrick Lewis","result":"W","delta":19},{"i":12,"x":810,"y":168.9,"elo":1601,"date":"2026-05-09","opp":"Alexander Volkov","result":"L","delta":-15}]

Last fights

Elo-based expectation · not betting advice
Date Opponent Result Δ Elo
May 9, 2026 Alexander Volkov L -15
Jan 24, 2026 Derrick Lewis W +19
Nov 22, 2025 Shamil Gaziev W +16
Nov 1, 2025 Ante Delija W +15
Aug 23, 2025 Sergei Pavlovich L -15

Performance

SLpM Significant Strikes Landed per Minute. Higher = busier striker.
Strikes Landed
L1L3L5
Str Acc Striking accuracy: significant strikes landed / attempted. Higher = more efficient striker.
Strike Accuracy
L1L3L5
SApM Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute. How often opponents land on this fighter. Lower is better.
Strikes Absorbed
L1L3L5
Str Def Share of opponent’s significant strike attempts that miss or are blocked. Higher is better.
Striking Defense
L1L3L5
TD / 15 min Takedowns landed per 15 minutes (one full 3-round fight). Measures wrestling output.
Takedowns
L1L3L5
TD Acc Takedowns landed / attempted. Higher = cleaner entries.
Takedown Accuracy
L1L3L5
TD Def Share of opponent takedown attempts stuffed. Higher = harder to put on the mat.
Takedown Defense
L1L3L5
Sub / 15 min Submission attempts per 15 minutes. Counts attempts, not just finishes — a proxy for grappling aggression.
Submission Attempts
L1L3L5
Ctrl / 15 min Control time in seconds per 15 minutes. Time in dominant grappling positions. 240 = 4 min, the realistic high-end across divisions.
Control Time (sec)
L1L3L5
KD / 15 min Knockdowns landed per 15 minutes. Counts every flash KD even if the fight continued — measures stopping power across all rounds, not just finishes.
Knockdowns
L1L3L5
Above division avg (intensity ∝ how far)
Near avg (±10%)
Below division avg

Finishes

How wins come Finish rate = (KO + Submission wins) / total UFC wins. Measures how often this fighter closes the show before the scorecards.
50%
5 / 10
Finish rate
KO
5
50% of wins
SUB
0
0% of wins
DEC
5
50% of wins
KO: 5 (50%) 5 Sub: 0 (0%) Dec: 5 (50%) 5
Finishes by round
5 total
R1
3 60%
R2
2 40%
R3
R4
R5

Striking profile

Where significant strikes land — by target zone and by position. 759 landed total · career

Targets head · body · leg
71% Head
  • Head 71%
  • Body 15%
  • Leg 14%
Positions distance · clinch · ground
88% Distance
  • Distance 88%
  • Clinch 3%
  • Ground 9%

Durability

How they're beaten How fights end AGAINST this fighter. Finished-against rate = (times KO'd + submitted) / total UFC losses. A low rate means they rarely get stopped.
Never been finished
All 3 losses went to the scorecards

Strength of schedule in UFC

Avg opp Elo (last 5) Average Elo rating of the last 5 opponents this fighter faced. A proxy for schedule difficulty — 1700+ is elite-level competition, 1500 is a UFC average opponent.
1615
Contender level
Quality wins (1600+) Wins over opponents rated 1600+ Elo at the time of the fight — clearly above the ~1500 UFC average, contender tier. A count of genuine quality results, not record-padding.
1
of 10 UFC wins
Toughest win The highest-rated opponent this fighter has a win over, by that opponent's Elo at fight time.
Derrick Lewis
Elo 1641 at fight time
Expected wins How many wins an average fighter would be expected to have against this exact schedule, based on pre-fight Elo win probabilities. The line below shows whether this fighter is over- or under-performing their matchups.
7.0
+3.0 wins above what this schedule implies
Opponent Elo over career · 13 UFC fights, oldest → newest
1410
1683
Notable wins
Derrick Lewis 1641

Top heavyweight

See full rankings →
Ciryl Gane IC
#1 · Elo 1691
Alexander Volkov
#2 · Elo 1656
Alex Pereira
#3 · Elo 1655
Tom Aspinall C
#4 · Elo 1654
Sergei Pavlovich
#5 · Elo 1619
Source Raw fight data and per-bout statistics come from Waldo Cortes Acosta on UFCStats →. Elo rating, uncertainty bands, and division-relative analytics computed by HonestElo — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.