Heavyweight veteran Andrei
Arlovski will return to action early next year as he takes on
up-and-comer Waldo
Cortes-Acosta at a UFC Fight Night event on Jan. 13.
The record holder for the most wins in UFC heavyweight history,
Arlovski will make his 47th walk to the Octagon as he takes on the
Dominican Republic native fighting out of Phoenix. The matchup was
first reported
by ESPN commentator Gaston
Reyno. Cortes-Acosta later confirmed the bout on social
media.
Arlovksi had a four-fight winning streak snapped with a submission
loss to Marcos
Rogerio de Lima in October 2022. Arlovski subsequently went on
to suffer a knockout loss to Don’Tale Mayes earlier this year,
making it two defeats in a row for the 44-year-old.
Meanwhile, Cortes-Acosta is coming off the first stoppage win of
his UFC career, a brutal first-round TKO win over Lukasz
Brzeski in Singapore in August. “Salsa Boy” earned his UFC
contract with a finish over Brazil’s Danilo
Suzart last year on the Contender Series. The former LFA champ
went on to notch consecutive decision wins against Jared
Vanderaa and Chase
Sherman in UFC competition before suffering his first
promotional loss de Lima in April.