UFC Vegas 124 has a new main event. Johnny Walker and Waldo Cortes-Acosta, two heavyweights who said yes on short notice, will headline Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, according to Yahoo Sports.
The card was built around a welterweight fight between Sean Brady and Gabriel Bonfim. Then Brady came down with a staph infection, and the bout was scrapped entirely. No replacement for Bonfim, no reshuffle. Just two big men raising their hands.
How to watch
In the U.S., the whole thing streams on Paramount+. Prelims start at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT), and the main card follows at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
Fans in the U.K. and Ireland get the prelims on TNT Sports and UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. BST on Saturday. The main card moves exclusively to TNT Sports at 1 a.m. BST on Sunday, Nov. 8, which means a lot of coffee in Manchester.
This is the UFC’s last stop at the Apex this year, per Yahoo Sports.
The main event
Walker is coming in hot. He made his heavyweight debut in October and knocked out Mick Parkin in the first round. Turning around for another fight a few weeks later, in a new division, against a guy his size, takes a certain kind of personality, and Walker has always had plenty of that.
Cortes-Acosta is in the opposite spot. He’s dropped back-to-back decisions to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes, so he’s looking to snap a skid against a man riding a fresh knockout. Losing on the cards to Volkov and Blaydes is no disgrace at heavyweight. A third straight loss would still sting, and he knows it.
Full card (as of Nov. 5)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker
- Tatiana Suarez vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Davey Grant vs. Elijah Smith
- Seok Hyeon Ko vs. Wellington Turman
- Billy Elekana vs. Lucas Fernando
- Mantas Kondratavicius vs. Andre Petroski
- Mitch Raposo vs. Marcos Degli
- Gabriel Lourenco vs. Thomas Petersen
- Karine Silva vs. Gabriella Fernandes
- Jose Mauro Delano vs. Murtazali Magomedov
- Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Oliver Schmid
- Austin Bashi vs. Carlos Calderon
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Nina Nikolija Milosevic
- Jonny Parsons vs. Jose Henrique Souza
That’s 14 fights. The one listed second deserves attention, too. Tatiana Suarez against Virna Jandiroba is the kind of grappling-heavy strawweight fight that hardcore fans circle while everyone else is still finding the remote.
Quick take
I’ll take this swap every time. Brady and Bonfim was a smart, technical welterweight fight, and it’s a shame for Bonfim, who lost his opponent and his fight. But two heavyweights jumping in on short notice at the Apex is exactly the kind of mess I want on a Saturday night. Walker hasn’t had time to cool off from the Parkin knockout, and Cortes-Acosta has spent two fights going 15 minutes with veterans. Somebody’s chin gets tested early. Prelims go at 5 p.m. ET Saturday.