UFC’s Waldo Cortes-Acosta responds to critics of Robelis Despaigne win

Waldo Cortes-Acosta took on a really harmful striker within the heavyweight division and gave him his first skilled loss whereas having a dominant exhibiting. But, regardless of getting the job executed, some are throwing criticism his manner.

This previous Saturday on the principle card of UFC on ESPN 56, Cortes-Acosta (12-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) defeated Olympic medalist in taekwondo Robelis Despaigne in a transparent unanimous resolution that learn 30-27 on two judges scorecards and 30-26 on one other. Cortes-Acosta combined his wrestling with placing protection to defeat the adorned striker Despaigne (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who’s 6-foot-7 and has the longest wingspan within the promotion.

Many, together with UFC CEO Dana White, needed to see a heavyweight placing slugfest, which Cortes-Acosta finds to be an unfair expectation.

“They’re unfair as a result of that is MMA,” Cortes-Acosta mentioned across the public criticism of his efficiency, talking with MMA Junkie in Spanish. “It is a mixture of martial arts the place you do placing and kicking, however you additionally go to the bottom. There’s rather a lot to this.

“So criticizing me in that method, it takes away what MMA is basically about. There’s boxing, Lomachenko was preventing this weekend. If you’d like simply boxing, go watch him. We’re mixing every part up, and meaning the bottom sport as properly.”

Should you comply with Cortes-Acosta on social media, you recognize he’s not one to shrink back from fan criticism – fairly the alternative. Cortes-Acosta has been going forwards and backwards with a few of his critics, and he’s been having fun with it.

“That’s social media, and you must have interaction,” Cortes-Acosta mentioned. “Talking of clashing with followers, I completed my battle early on Saturday, and I used to be off my cellphone for about 4 hours, and once I checked, I needed to reply to about 4,000 messages from completely different individuals, and I replied to each single certainly one of them.

“I didn’t sleep that evening. I simply hopped immediately on the aircraft, and I’m nonetheless replying to messages.”

The Dominican heavyweight is now 5-1 since becoming a member of the UFC in 2022. He’s proud of the best way his profession goes not solely as a result of he’s been rising up the rankings, but additionally exhibiting evolution to his sport, which is one thing his followers have appreciated.

“There’s at all times going to be critics and other people saying the worst issues about you and all that, however lots of people that criticized me or didn’t find out about me are actually cheering for me as a result of I confirmed issues that I had by no means executed earlier than within the octagon,” Cortes-Acosta mentioned. “They see me with completely different eyes. I’m not only a boxer and a striker, however I can wrestle, too.”