Johnny Walker knocked out Waldo Cortes-Acosta at 2:27 of the third round to win the main event of UFC Fight Night: Cortes-Acosta vs. Walker at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday, 7 November 2026. It was Walker's second straight stoppage since moving up to heavyweight, and both men took home $100,000 for Fight of the Night.
The heavyweights agreed to the bout about a week and a half before fight night, after an injury to Sean Brady scrapped the planned welterweight headliner against Gabriel Bonfim. In the co-main event, Tatiana Suarez beat Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision to stay at the front of the strawweight title queue. Elijah Smith and Thomas Petersen earned $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses, and all 14 fights went ahead.
UFC Vegas 124 full results
| Fight | Winner | Method | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker | Johnny Walker | TKO (punches) | 3 | 2:27 |
| Tatiana Suarez vs. Virna Jandiroba | Tatiana Suarez | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Davey Grant vs. Elijah Smith | Elijah Smith | KO (punch) | 1 | 1:00 |
| Billy Elekana vs. Lucas Fernando | Lucas Fernando | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Nina Nikolija Milosevic vs. Priscila Cachoeira | Nina Nikolija Milosevic | TKO (elbows and punches) | 2 | 3:40 |
| Mitch Raposo vs. Marcos Degli | Mitch Raposo | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Oliver Schmid | Oliver Schmid | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Gabriel Lourenco vs. Thomas Petersen | Thomas Petersen | TKO (punches) | 3 | 4:47 |
| Karine Silva vs. Gabriella Fernandes | Karine Silva | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Murtazali Magomedov vs. Jose Mauro Delano | Murtazali Magomedov | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Austin Bashi vs. Carlos Calderon | Austin Bashi | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 1:07 |
| Mantas Kondratavičius vs. Andre Petroski | Andre Petroski | TKO (elbows and punches) | 2 | 4:39 |
| Wellington Turman vs. Ko Seok-hyeon | Ko Seok-hyeon | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 |
| Jose Henrique Souza vs. Jonny Parsons | Jose Henrique Souza | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:16 |
Main event: Walker rallies at heavyweight
Walker won only one of his last five fights at light heavyweight before moving up. Since the switch he has knocked out Mick Parkin at UFC 332 in October and now Cortes-Acosta, who went in ranked inside the heavyweight top 10.
It wasn't easy. Walker chopped at the legs early, but Cortes-Acosta kept walking forward, knocked him down in the first round and looked in control through the second. According to Yahoo Sports, Cortes-Acosta was ahead on two of the three scorecards going into the third.
Then Walker landed a question mark kick that hurt Cortes-Acosta, followed up with a spinning strike and dropped him with punches. The referee stopped it at 2:27. Walker out-landed him 51 to 40 in significant strikes, according to MiddleEasy.
In his post-fight interview Walker said: "This is not technique. This is surprise motherfer." He also had a message for anyone who doubted his durability: "F everybody who says I have no chin."
The win puts Walker in the heavyweight top 10 conversation. Cortes-Acosta, who opened 2026 with a knockout of Derrick Lewis, has now lost three in a row after decision defeats to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes.
Co-main event: Suarez grinds out the win
Suarez beat Jandiroba 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. It wasn't a highlight-reel fight. According to ESPN, Suarez went 0-for-9 on takedown attempts, a first in her UFC career, but she stuffed Jandiroba's own shots and turned them into more than nine minutes of top control. Jandiroba's best moment was a deep kneebar attempt at the end of the second round that came too late.
Suarez improves to 13-1 with three straight wins since her only loss, to Zhang Weili in a title fight. "I want that belt," she said afterwards. Strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern is the obvious next opponent.
Other standout performances
Smith needed exactly one minute to knock out Davey Grant with a right hand and a finishing shot on the ground. He moves to 4-0 in the UFC and nine straight wins overall, and UFC.com noted it was the last fight on his contract.
Petersen came back from a rough first round in which Gabriel Lourenco hurt him several times. He dropped Lourenco early in the second and finished him with punches from top position at 4:47 of the third, with 13 seconds left.
Nina Nikolija Milosevic stopped Priscila Cachoeira with ground strikes at 3:40 of the second round, her second straight stoppage in the UFC. Austin Bashi submitted Carlos Calderon with a rear-naked choke at 1:07 of the first, Andre Petroski finished Mantas Kondratavičius with elbows and punches from mount in the second, and Jose Henrique Souza stopped Jonny Parsons in the first. Each of those four finishers received a $25,000 bonus, according to MMA Junkie.
Lucas Fernando beat Billy Elekana by unanimous decision at light heavyweight for his fifth straight win, and Mitch Raposo spoiled Marcos Degli's UFC debut at flyweight, ending Degli's 13-fight winning streak.
Bonus awards
- Fight of the Night ($100,000 each): Johnny Walker and Waldo Cortes-Acosta
- Performance of the Night ($100,000): Elijah Smith
- Performance of the Night ($100,000): Thomas Petersen
- $25,000 finish bonuses: Nina Nikolija Milosevic, Austin Bashi, Andre Petroski, Jose Henrique Souza
Get live round-by-round results for every UFC card in the free Pugna MMA app, and pick the winners of the next event in our free no-money prediction game.
Sources
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.