Cortes-Acosta outweighs Walker by 23 pounds ahead of UFC Vegas 124 main event

Waldo Cortes-Acosta will carry a significant size advantage into Saturday’s UFC Vegas 124 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, having weighed in at 262 pounds against Johnny Walker’s 239 at Friday’s official weigh-ins — a 23-pound differential between the two heavyweights.

The matchup was assembled on short notice after the originally scheduled welterweight headliner between Gabriel Bonfim and Sean Brady collapsed due to a Brady injury. Both replacements are making quick turnarounds: Cortes-Acosta last competed less than two months ago at Noche UFC 4, while Walker is stepping back into the cage just 35 days after his previous fight.

For Walker, Saturday marks only his second outing at heavyweight. He made a successful debut at the division at UFC 332 in October, stopping Mick Parkin by first-round knockout after a career spent at light heavyweight.

In the co-main event, strawweights Tatiana Suarez and Virna Jandiroba both came in within the non-title one-pound allowance — Suarez at 115.5 pounds and Jandiroba at 116 — setting up what could be the card’s most consequential bout for the 115-pound title picture.

Suarez, ranked third in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings at strawweight, challenged Zhang Weili for the championship at UFC 312 but dropped a unanimous decision. She has since strung together back-to-back wins over Loopy Godinez and Amanda Lemos. Jandiroba, ranked second, came up short in a vacant title fight against Mackenzie Dern at UFC 321, but returned to winning ways with a victory over Tabatha Ricci in April.

All 28 fighters on the card made weight successfully.

UFC Vegas 124 Weigh-in Results

Main Card

Waldo Cortes-Acosta (262) vs. Johnny Walker (239)

Tatiana Suarez (115.5) vs. Virna Jandiroba (116)

Davey Grant (135.5) vs. Elijah Smith (135.5)

Billy Elekana (206) vs. Lucas Fernando (205)

Priscila Cachoeira (136) vs. Nina Milosevic (136)

Mitch Raposo (125.5) vs. Marcos Degli (126)

Preliminary Card

Keiichiro Nakamura (145) vs. Ollie Schmid (145.5)

Gabriel Lorenco (234) vs. Thomas Petersen (253.5)

Karine Silva (125) vs. Gabriella Fernandes (126)

Jose Delano (145.5) vs. Murtazali Magomedov (146)

Austin Bashi (145.5) vs. Carlos Calderon (145.5)

Mantas Kondratavicius (186) vs. Andre Petroski (185.5)

Seokhyon Ko (170) vs. Wellington Turman (171)

Jonny Parsons (169.5) vs. Jose Souza (171)