Waldo Cortes-Acosta says a feud that started with Josh Hokit’s January callout has followed him into fight week at UFC 328, where he will face Alexander Volkov on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark. Cortes-Acosta described a confrontation at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas and said the exchange turned personal after Hokit insulted his family.
Hokit called him out at UFC 324 in January after a TKO win over Denzel Freeman, then labeled him a deadbeat father. Cortes-Acosta said the words hit hard because he is raising nine children, and he said Hokit later approached him to apologize. Even so, the heavyweight said the damage was done when Hokit brought up his kids and family life. “Not only did he speak about me, but he spoke about my family, my kids, and a bunch more sh*t came out of his mouth,” Cortes-Acosta said.
Cortes-Acosta said he ran into Hokit at the Meta APEX and confronted him on the ring, telling him he was not worth anything and warning that one day they would fight. He said the two crossed paths again later at an elevator, where Hokit apologized and said the taunt was meant to make headlines so they could make money in a fight down the line. Cortes-Acosta said he responded, “You’re a f*cking idiot. You’re a p*ssy.”
The confrontation matters now because Cortes-Acosta enters UFC 328 with momentum and a possible title route in view. He is 17-2 in MMA and 10-2 in the UFC, while Volkov brings a 39-11 MMA mark and a 13-5 record in the UFC. Cortes-Acosta said a win on Saturday could put him in line for Tom Aspinall, especially with Ciryl Gane fighting at the White House and other heavyweights moving around the division. “We know that Volkov already beat Ciryl Gane. They’re not going to want to put him against Aspinall. So if I beat Volkov, I might get the opportunity to fight Aspinall,” he said.
That gives Saturday’s bout more weight than a routine heavyweight matchup. The winner at Prudential Center could leave Newark with a stronger claim on the next step in a division that is already rearranging itself around Aspinall, and Cortes-Acosta is betting that his name will be next in line. The question is whether he can turn the noise around him into the kind of win that forces the UFC to listen.
