Marcos Rogério de Lima vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta UFC Fight Night 223 Odds, Time, and Prediction

Marcos Rogério de Lima (20-8-1) is a knockout expert with 14 wins by KO/TKO. He’s locking horns with Waldo Cortes-Acosta (9-0) who many believe is the next big thing in the heavyweight division.

Marcos Rogério de Lima vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta Odds

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada
• Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
• Time: ~10:00 PM ET
• How to Watch: ESPN 2 / ESPN+

Marcos Rogério de Lima Going for Another Knockout

De Lima is a big guy with fists of concrete. He’s built like a tank – he’s 6’1” tall with a 75” reach and weighs 265 pounds.

This guy lands 3.57, which isn’t bad, but the real reason why he’s won 14 fights by KO/TKO is that his strikes are incredibly powerful. He only needs one good shot to win the fight.

De Lima is also decent when it comes to dodging the opponent’s strikes. He absorbs only 2.41 significant strikes per minute, which is a pretty impressive number for a heavyweight.

The Brazilian is a great boxer, while also having a decent set of grappling skills. Although the fact is that he lost five fights by submission, this guy is actually pretty decent on the floor. He’s a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who knows how to choke out an opponent as evident from the fact that in his most recent fight, he did exactly that to Andrei Arlovski in Round 1.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta Hoping to Stay Undefeated

He’s 9-0 but only two of those wins happened in the UFC. Both of them happened by a decision – against Jared Vanderaa and Chase Sherman. In both of those fights, he completely outboxed his opponent. He landed 17 significant strikes more than Vanderaa, while against Sherman, he landed 81 more.

Cortes-Acosta is a fast and agile heavyweight, who’s got great wrestling/grappling skills. He’s also three inches taller than his next opponent and has a longer reach than de Lima. However, he just isn’t as strong as him.

Although four of his nine wins happened by KO/TKO, the fact is that the referee intervened in three of those. It’s the sheer volume of strikes that brought him the wins. It’s a big question whether this can work against such a skillful boxer as de Lima.

Marcos Rogério de Lima vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta Prediction

Marcos Rogério de Lima is a better fighter than Waldo Cortes-Acosta in practically every aspect. That said, we would be really surprised if de Lima didn’t win on Saturday. Actually, the only thing that bugs us at this point is the method through which he’s going to defeat Cortes-Acosta. Although we’re not 100% certain, we think it could happen by submission.

Pick: Marcos Rogério de Lima to win by submission