Waldo Cortes Acosta
"Salsa Boy"
16-2-0
VS
2026-09-12
UFC Fight Night: Elliott vs. Chairez
Heavyweight
Curtis Blaydes
"Razor"
19-5-0
CATBOOST PREDICTION
Waldo Cortes Acosta 'Salsa Boy'
67.1% CONFIDENCE
ACTUAL RESULT — MODEL WAS WRONG
Curtis Blaydes 'Razor' won
Decision · Round 3 · 5:00
How It Ends
41%
Decision
50%
KO / TKO
9%
Submission
Decision41.2%
KO / TKO49.8%
Submission9.1%
If it's a finish, which round
Round 143.4%
Round 236.7%
Round 3+19.9%
A separate model trained only on how fights end (not who wins) — 59% estimated chance this fight is finished rather than going to a decision.
Why CatBoost leans this way
Waldo Cortes Acosta
Curtis Blaydes
Net striking dominance
Matchup
16%
Age
Waldo Cortes Acosta
8%
Experience edge (total fights)
Matchup
8%
Strike rate delta r1 to r3
Waldo Cortes Acosta
8%
Strike rate delta r1 to r3
Curtis Blaydes
8%
Defensive skill edge
Matchup
7%
Age
Curtis Blaydes
7%
Avg takedowns attempted
Curtis Blaydes
4%
Avg takedowns attempted
Waldo Cortes Acosta
3%
Distance strike defense
Waldo Cortes Acosta
2%
Head absorption rate
Waldo Cortes Acosta
2%
Distance strike defense
Curtis Blaydes
2%
Striking accuracy
Curtis Blaydes
2%
Strikes absorbed/min
Curtis Blaydes
2%
← pushes toward Waldo Cortes Acosta pushes toward Curtis Blaydes →
Bars show each factor's SHAP contribution to this specific prediction — how much it pushed the win probability toward one fighter, given everything else the model knows. Percentages are each factor's share of the total push across the top 30 factors.

Waldo Cortes Acosta

Win Streak
N/A
Finish Rate
N/A%
Avg Duration
N/Am
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
L DEC
L DEC
W KO
W KO
W KO
Height: 193 cm
Weight: 260 lbs
Reach: 198 cm
Stance: Orthodox

Curtis Blaydes

Win Streak
N/A
Finish Rate
N/A%
Avg Duration
N/Am
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
W DEC
L DEC
W DEC
L KO
W KO
Height: 193 cm
Weight: 265 lbs
Reach: 203 cm
Stance: Orthodox