UFC Qatar full card ceremonial weigh-in faceoffs: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker
UFC Fight Night 265 ceremonial weigh-ins featured staredowns for the full card ahead of the event in Qatar.
MMA Junkie has live coverage of UFC Fight Night 265 with round-by-round analysis of every fight.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Shamil Gaziev meet on the main card of UFC Fight Night 265 at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Last event: 3-2
UFC main cards, 2025: 113-83-2
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Shamil Gaziev UFC Qatar preview
Cortes-Acosta (15-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) stepped up to replace Serghei Spivac on just three days’ notice. He flew across the world and landed just minutes before he needed to step on the scale for official weigh-ins. “Salsa Boy” has been incredibly active in 2025, as this will be his fifth fight. He’s 3-1 this year, including a wild stoppage of Ante Delija just three weeks ago.
After multiple bookings with Spivac fell through this year, Gaziev (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) gets to keep this date for his second fight of the year thanks to Cortes-Acosta. Gaziev has won back-to-back fights over Don’Tale Mayes and Thomas Petersen, the latter of which was a first-round walk-off knockout.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Shamil Gaziev UFC Qatar expert pick, prediction
Filling out the card is an impromptu fight at heavyweight between Cortes-Acosta and Gaziev. With Spivac falling out on fight week due to illness, Cortes-Acosta valiantly steps in on roughly three days’ notice.
Although Cortes-Acosta deserves credit for flying all the way to Qatar to fight on short notice, I can’t support the unwarranted glazing that the former baseball player has received since his controversial win over Ante Delija.
Aside from the fact that the MMA community regularly blames fouled fighters who can’t continue, like Tom Aspinall, instead of assigning any responsibility to the fouling party, Cortes-Acosta – who shouldn’t have been allowed to continue due to both the fight being stopped and an improper protocol on the random restart – received a ton of credit for his willingingness to continue and the upbrupt stoppage that followed.
However, instead of being grateful for a win he was lucky to get, Cortes-Acosta used the opportunity to crap all over the current UFC heavyweight champion. And with the corrupt and useless governing body known as the Nevada Athletic Commission going to bat for referee Mark Smith’s clusterf*ck (to put it mildly) of a call, history will now remember Cortes-Acosta a lot kinder than he should.
Don’t get me wrong: I get the gamesmanship and self-promotion part of this equation, it’s just annoying that it’s Cortes-Acosta who is the recipient of an insanely lucky bounce, considering his annoying style and strange ability to continue to skate by in fights.
Seriously, Cortes-Acosta is my least favorite heavyweight on the roster for a reason. If he’s not finding an abrupt finish, Cortes-Acosta’s style of bullish bravado sucks the life out of fights (as anyone with actual taste seems to share my disdain for his style and antics alike).
I’m sure my open dislike for Cortes-Acosta may shock some of you, but the words I speak are factually based and backed up by the betting lines when you consider that public money has come pouring in on the fighter who has only had travel time – not training time – for this fight.
If I was willing to take Delija against Cortes-Acosta, then I’ll gladly take “The Big Meal Shamil” Gaziev in this spot.
Nothing personal to Cortes-Acosta, but the pick this Gaziev to find a knockout by the end of Round 2.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Shamil Gaziev UFC Qatar odds
Despite the oddsmakers opening the Dagestani as the favorite, public money has come pouring in on the more popular fighter, listing Cortes-Acosta -144 and Gaziev +118 via FanDuel.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Shamil Gaziev UFC Qatar start time, how to watch
Cortes-Acosta and Gaziev are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 1:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on ESPN+.
