UFC Fight Night 225 Prelims: Waldo Cortes-Acosta Destroys Lukasz Brzeski

HEAVY SHOTS FROM Waldo Cortes-Acosta 🫣 #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/ruoBvIgmKB

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 26, 2023

After two straight first-round finishes, there was no way heavyweight bruiser Waldo Cortes-Acosta was gonna break the steak. "Salsa Boy" (10-1, 3-1 UFC) closed out the UFC Fight Night 225 prelims in devastating fashion with a first-round knockout of Poland’s Lukasz Brzeski.

Out of the five finishes on the prelims, Acosta’s may have been the most violent. With just over two minutes left in the round, Acosta parried Brzeski’s jab and made him pay dearly with an overhand right carrying the entirety of his 264-pound frame. Brzeski’s legs stopped, dropped and rolled until he finally face-planted in his own corner. Brzeski, a former DWCS product, has lost his first three fights in the UFC.

Armfield Steamrolls Kazama

Garrett Armfield steamrolled Toshiomi Kazama to secure his first UFC win in bantamweight action. Armfield (9-3, 1-1 UFC) was out for nearly a year, switched camps to Springfield Fight Club and made the most of the time off. He looked brilliant against Kazama, landing flush shot after flush shot until the fight was mercifully stopped 4:16 into the opening round.

Oleksiejczuk Stops

It didn’t last very long, but middleweights Chidi Njokuani and Michal Oleksiejczuk put on a show to remember. Njokuani entered the UFC with back-to-back knockouts and looked destined to return to form after peppering up Oleksiejczuk’s body with vicious knees and kicks. Njokuani’s explosiveness as a striker makes him frightening as an opponent, but his vulnerable chin is a cause for concern.

Oleksiejczuk discovered that midway through the opening round after wobbling the Las Vegas native with heavy hands. Njokuani fired back a cracking head kick and flirted with a possible finish, but Oleksiejczuk’s Polish power would shine through. After landing a thudding right hand flush Oleksiejczuk (19-6) had Njokuani on noodle legs before dropping him and finishing the fight with ground and pound at the 4:16 mark of the first round.

Song Decisions Bedoya

Welterweight veteran Kenan Song shook off a two-fight losing streak and a shaky start in the first round to grind out a clear unanimous decision win over Rolando Bedoya (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Bedoya, coming off his split decision loss to Khaos Williams last May, took the fight to Song in the opening fight minutes. Bedoya was adamant about keeping the fight on the feet and his pressure paved the way to an early lead.

Despite his slow start, Song would begin to crescendo over the next two rounds. After surviving Bedoya’s onslaught in the opening round, Song began to pick his shots and land on Bedoya at ease. Even though Bedoya wanted to make it a street fight, Song’s technicality kept him a step behind. After 10 minutes of precision, Song’s (20-7, 5-3 UFC) hands were raised in victory for the first time since Feb. 2020.

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Goff Body Shot Stuns Kinoshita

Could Billy Goff be the UFC’s new comeback kid? After earning his spot in the promotion last August off the back of an unbelievable comeback in Dana White's Contender Series, Goff followed up that performance with a back-and-forth brawl against welterweight Yusaku Kinoshita.

Kinoshita looked too quick, sharp and poised for Goff’s heavy boxing style early in round one. Kinoshita routinely beat Goff to the punch and snapped the American’s head back several times, but Goff’s legs never buckled. Kinoshita’s did, though, after Goff landed a paralyzing right hand to the solar plexus to end the fight by TKO 3:49 into the first round.

Despite making his UFC debut, Goff (9-2, 1-0 UFC) has already garnered a reputation for shrugging off slow starts and finding exciting finishes. After taking most of 2022 off to recover from surgery it shouldn’t be too long before Goff returns to the cage.

Aldrich Batters Liang

After suffering back-to-back defeats, J.J. Aldrich would not be denied victory in her flyweight fight with Na Liang. Liang took Aldrich down to the mat in round one and felt comfortable that she could be successful with her on the ground. Liang’s game plan didn’t go over so smoothly in round two as Aldrich reversed position and finished the “Dragon Girl” with vicious ground and pound 4:49 into the round.

Aldrich (12-6, 8-5 UFC) picked up her first UFC finish. Unfortunately for Liang, she dropped her third straight loss and may have broken her foot during the bout.

Choi Rebounds Against Errens

Saturday morning’s card kicked off with a featherweight clash between veteran Seung Woo Choi and the scrappy Jarno Errens. Errens, looking for his first UFC win, paired a high work rate with his choppy, erratic style to give Choi problems early and even dropped the Korean with an uppercut in round two.

Despite Errens' stubbornness, Choi’s crisp striking and dominant ground game proved key in securing a unanimous decision win (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Choi (11-7, 4-5 UFC) returned back to the winner’s circle after three straight losses to Michael Trizano, Joshua Culibao and Alex Caceres and nearly closed the show in the final round. After pressing Errens (13-5-1, 0-2 UFC) near the cage, Choi put Errens down with a debilitating calf kick. Choi followed Errens to the mat and chased a rear naked choke until the final bell.