Glendale — Dominican heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta, for one, is no fan of the amount of time Tom Aspinall is taking to get back to fighting.
Aspinall, the UFC’s heavyweight champion (no longer undisputed, since an interim title is in play) has been out of action since a nasty eye poke and subsequent surgery stemming from his fight with Ciryl Gane in October of 2025.
Speaking with Cageside Press during the Noche UFC media day, Cortes-Acosta, who is looking to bounce back from a loss against Alexander Volkov when he faces Curtis Blaydes this Saturday, admitted that there was “a lot of frustration to see the champion be like this.”
“He knows he needs to come back and fight with Ciryl Gane. I think, sorry for the language, we got a p*ssy.”
Suggesting that Aspinall could have left, then returned to fight for the title, similar to Valentina Shevchanko recently vacating, Cortes-Acosta added that “I see that this is not the champion. For me it’s not the champion. The champion is a person who has got a problem, fixes it, and tries to come back and tries to be like that again. It’s like me, I fought Volkov like two, three months ago. Everybody knows, he broke my rib. Like two, three weeks later, I started training. And the UFC called me like two weeks after and gave me the fight with Curtis Blaydes.”
The former pitcher then questioned which sort of actions make one a champion, adding that “you try fighting, and try to be warriors in the ring. Not trying to be a p*ssy, and I don’t know where they are. They try to be hiding, because they don’t want to fight with Ciryl Gane.”
Waldo Cortes-Acosta has reason to be concerned with Aspinall, given he’s trying to reclaim his position in the division. Prior to the loss to Volkov, he’d won three straight, including a victory against ex-title challenger Derrick Lewis. Asked whether he can get himself back towards the top of the division by beating Blaydes, “I believe that,” Cortes-Acosta answered. “Everything depends on how my performance is on Saturday. I try to do my best, because I want to be on track in the game, and I want to fight surely for the title. I don’t care if it’s the interim title, or the title shot.”
Blaydes, who came up short against Josh Hokit in a Fight of the Year contender last time out, will be looking to do the same, and get back in the mix. WCA is expecting a lot of wrestling from Blaydes as a result.
“I think so, because what he do with Josh Hokit, he no be doing with me. I have a different power, and different mind,” stated Cortes-Acosta. “I go to destroy him right away. I don’t play.”
Watch the full Noche UFC media day appearance by Waldo Cortes-Acosta above.