Serghei Spivac has withdrawn from his UFC Fight Night 265 bout against Shamil Gaziev just a few days out from the event in Qatar, but the good news is that the UFC has quickly managed to secure a suitable replacement.

The No.6 ranked heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta will now take the No.7 placed Spivac’s spot opposite Gaziev less than three weeks after his first round KO victory over Ante Delija at UFC Fight Night 263.

That fight had been notable for the fact that Cortes-Acosta suffered an eye-poke that left him struggling to see earlier in the fight, but opted to continue and soon after delivered a big knockout finish.

It seems that Cortes-Acosta’s eye injury wasn’t too bad though as he’s been able to accept this short-notice call-up as he looks to add to an already very active 2025 campaign that’s seen him go 3-1, leaving him with an 8-2 run overall in the UFC to date.

He’ll be going up against the 35-year-old Gaziev, who is 3-1 in the UFC, including a 1st round TKO victory over Thomas Peterson early this year, which took him to No.11 in the heavyweight rankings.

Cortes-Acosta vs. Gaziev features on the main card of a UFC Fight Night 265 event that will be headlined by a lightweight clash between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker, with Belal Muhammad vs. Ian Machado Garry serving as the co-main event.