Waldo Cortes-Acosta is having a November to remember. The red-hot heavyweight scored his second win of the month in explosive fashion Saturday at UFC Qatar, knocking out Shamil Gaziev in 82 seconds after accepting the fight on just days’ notice.
Cortes-Acosta (16-2) sent Gaziev (14-2) to the canvas early with a right hand to the jaw just 21 days after his stunning first-round comeback over former PFL tournament champion Ante Delija.
WALDO CORTES ACOSTA ON SHORT NOTICE 🤯 #UFCQATARpic.twitter.com/ENoI5LAD9L
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 22, 2025
Cortes-Acosta, who is now 4-1 across five UFC fights in 2025, stepped into the bout as a last-second replacement on Thursday following the withdrawal of Serghei Spivac.
Cortes-Acosta donned an eyepatch Saturday as his win was announced — making light of the eye-poke controversy he suffered in the Delija fight — before wrapping the eyepatch around UFC commentator Michael Bisping.
A former UFC middleweight champion, Bisping famously lost one of his eyes due to his fighting career.
Putting the eye patch on Bisping is actually crazy 😭 pic.twitter.com/HEz6WpHaEJ
— Uncrowned (@uncrownedcombat) November 22, 2025
For full coverage of UFC Qatar, including live results, play-by-play and highlights of the entire Arman Tsarukyan vs. Dan Hooker main card, check out Uncrowned’s UFC Qatar hub.
