Johnny Walker Knocks Out Waldo Cortes-Acosta in Stunning Third-Round Comeback in UFC Vegas 124 Main Event

LAS VEGAS — Johnny Walker survived early trouble and then ended the fight with one punch. Walker beat Waldo Cortes-Acosta by TKO at 2:27 of the third round on Saturday night.

Walker came back from a deficit to knock out the top-10 heavyweight in the main event at Meta APEX.

It was his second straight win since moving up from light heavyweight. Walker improved to 24-10, while Cortes-Acosta fell to 17-5.

Early trouble

Cortes-Acosta dominated the early going. He applied heavy forward pressure and quickly sent Walker to the canvas with a punch. All three Sherdog scorers gave him the first round.

Cortes-Acosta appeared to land the heavier blows and spent more time in control while grappling. He landed 68 strikes to Walker's 51 and held more than four minutes of ground control.

The finish

The fight turned suddenly in the third round. Walker landed a question mark kick followed by a backfist, putting Cortes-Acosta on wobbly legs. He then blasted forward with a vicious right hand to send Cortes-Acosta to the mat for the finish.

What's next

Walker hinted at bigger ambitions. In his post-fight interview, he said he wanted to prove he could take a good punch at heavyweight, and that he plans to watch the heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit at UFC 334 next weekend.

The win also earned him a $100,000 performance bonus.

For Cortes-Acosta, the slide continues. He has now lost three straight, including decisions to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes.