MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom goes in-depth to break down the biggest fights in the UFC. Today, he takes a closer look at the UFC Fight Night 293 main event between Waldo Cortes Acosta and Johnny Walker.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta UFC Fight Night 293 preview
Staple info:
- Record: 17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC
- Height: 6'4" Age: 35 Weight: 262 lbs. Reach: 78"
- Last fight: Decision loss to Curtis Blaydes (Sept. 12, 2026)
- Camp: Arizona Combat Sports (Arizona)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/boxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
- + LFA heavyweight title
- + Amateur MMA championship
- + Pro boxing exp. (6-4 with 3 KO wins/losses)
- + 8 KO victories
- + 1 submission win
- + 5 first-round finishes
- + Knockout power
- + Athletic and agile for size
- + Solid boxing tools
- ^ Educated lead hand, decent change-ups
- + Works well to the body
- + Serviceable takedowns along the fence
- + Consistently tries to steal rounds late
- +/- 5-1 inside the UFC Apex (6-1 with DWCS)
Johnny Walker UFC Fight Night 293 preview
Staple info:
- Record: 23-10 MMA, 9-7 UFC
- Height: 6'6" Age: 34 Weight: 242 lbs. Reach: 82"
- Last fight: Knockout win over Mick Parkin (Oct. 3, 2026)
- Camp: Porrada Training Center (Las Vegas)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/muay Thai
- Risk management: Fair
Supplemental info:
- + Regional MMA titles
- + Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt
- + 18 KO victories
- + 3 submission wins
- + 18 first-round finishes
- + Knockout power
- + Athletic and agile for size
- + Sporadic shot selection
- ^ Flying knees to spinning assaults
- + Strong inside the clinch
- ^ Dangerous strikes, improved defense
- + Serviceable grappling ability
- ^ Solid strikes from topside
- +/- 1-3 in the UFC Apex (2-3 with DWCS)
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker point of interest: Striking on short notice
In keeping with the theme of impromptu main events, the UFC saw fit to force-feed us another big-guy fight at the Apex, giving Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Johnny Walker only nine days to prepare for this fight.
An offensive marauder who towers over the majority of his peers, Walker brings a lot to the table if you’re a fan of explosive freak shows. Whether he’s parlaying spinning kicks into backfists or launching flying knees up the middle, Walker hits as hard as the liquor that his name is associated with.
Between the Brazilian wildman’s aggressive nature
to the nomadic history of his training camps, there’s not a lot of process in Walker’s game to speak of. Walker, in his defense, did show a bit more measured and processed version of himself when working with the SBG Ireland team, but those changes didn’t add much depth to his overall game (much less help improve his results).
Walker has since spent the last couple of years training stateside in Las Vegas, working with camps like Xtreme Couture MMA and Porrada Training Center. Walker looked a lot more comfortable in his debut in this division the last time out, but he’ll need to stay disciplined against a striker like Cortes-Acosta.
Despite pro boxing not exactly treating the Dominican kindly, it’s clear that Cortes-Acosta is most comfortable when operating within this realm.
Working behind an educated lead hand, Cortes-Acosta’s jab serves as a solid foundation to his striking game and allows him to stand out amongst his peers (at least in that regard). From smoothly hooking off his jab to hitting change-ups to the body, Cortes-Acosta can offer pleasing optics as far as his punching output goes.
Cortes-Acosta, who comes from a baseball background, can also pitch Chuck Liddell-like overhands that can close the show. Cortes-Acosta has done a better job of tightening up his right hand in recent fights, demonstrating an ability to better connect it off of hooks or inside slips alike.
Nevertheless, kicking offense still appears to be problematic for Cortes-Acosta’s boxing-centric defense, making striking traffic a potent two-way street this Saturday.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker breakdown: Potential grappling threats
Considering the potential for chaos on the feet, no one should be shocked if this heavyweight slopfest hits the floor at some point this Saturday.
Despite being more known for his striking, Cortes-Acosta has shown that he’s capable of changing things up and looking for takedowns opposite taller opposition (e.g., his fight with Robelis Despaigne). In fact, Cortes-Acosta has steadily shown improvements when it comes to navigating within closed quarters.
Offtensively, Cortes-Acosta has serviceable takedowns when he holds the positive position along the cage. And defensively, the 35-year-old Dominican demonstrates a better understanding of over-unders and decent urgency when it comes to his stand-ups and separations.
However, between Walker’s vicious clinch knees and the short-notice context of this five-round affair, I’m not sure how much we can count on Cortes Acorsta replicating the game plan he had against Despaigne.
Although Walker is not beyond being taken down, he has worked hard on his counter-wrestling in order to complement his already dangerous clinch work.
Embracing the double-collar tie with a long and strong frame to boot, Walker effortlessly doles out knees and elbows from this position that can end a fight in an instant. And despite not being known for hitting takedowns, Walker has shown serviceable takedown abilities in both the open and from the clinch (areas I suspect that will only improve after training at a place like Xtreme Couture MMA).
Should Walker find himself operating on top early, then Cortes-Acosta will need to demonstrate good technique and urgency opposite a legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt who can offer some serious strikes and submission threats from topside.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker odds
The oddsmakers and the public favor the Dominican fighter, listing Cortes-Acosta -250 and Walker +198 via FanDuel.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker prediction, pick
Even if these two weren’t fighting on nine days’ notice, this isn’t the kind of pairing one can easily prognosticate. That said, Cortes-Acosta is the more experienced man in this division and has traditionally done well when fighting on short notice in the octagon.
Add in Walker’s lack of a consistent process and suspect staying power, and it seems like Cortes-Acosta eventually finding a knockout at boxing range is the most likely outcome of this fight.
The smaller octagon should also help Cortes-Acosta’s lack of cage-cutting footwork, but I still suspect that the striking exchanges will be more of a potent two-way street than many are suspecting. Aside from the fact that Cortes-Acosta’s boxing-centric style makes him incredibly kickable on all levels, “Salsa Boy” has a bad habit of leaning out and over his hips, both offensively and defensively (something that fighters like Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov were able to repeatedly punish him for).
Don’t get me wrong: Cortes-Acosta appears to be the more durable fighter between the two and deserves to be the favorite from a betting perspective.
However, despite taking some big shots from some big hitters fairly well, the things that have stung Cortes-Acosta have been short jabs and leg kicks. Not only are leg kicks the one weapon that Walker uses consistently, but the Brazilian displayed a deceptive ability to counter-balance said kicks with straight punches in his last fight against Mick Parkin – which I think will serve him well here.
Even though a knockout on either side wouldn’t shock me, I ultimately think that we’re in for a classicly weird heavyweight slogfest.
Between all the short-notice intangibles and the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of each man, a boring main event would serve the UFC right for force-feeding us more unwanted big guy slop atop a card that has no business being fourteen fights long. But I digress.
Perhaps it's my admitted sensibilities against Cortes-Acosta’s frustrating style and stupid undeserved luck (e.g., getting decisions he has no business getting against the likes of Jared Vanderaa and Serghei Spivac or consistently getting away with fouling opponents while kicking unluckily fouled fighters like Tom Aspinall while they’re down), but I have a sneaky suspicion that some long-overdue karmic justice gets dealt out this weekend.
Whether Walker punishes Cortes-Acosta’s propensity to fall headfirst into his follow-ups or just outpoints him in a tedious decision, I’ll take a reluctant flier on the underdog to win in a fight that will probably go longer than many suspect.
Prediction: Walker by decision
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker start time, how to watch
As the main event, Cortes-Acosta and Walker are expected to walk out to the cage at approximately 10:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker prediction, pick: Big-time knockout incoming?
