A significant heavyweight bout is scheduled for UFC 331 on September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Waldo Cortes-Acosta, a top-5 ranked heavyweight, will put his ranking on the line against Curtis Blaydes. This matchup has been confirmed by multiple sources. Meanwhile, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has expressed his readiness to fight Ciryl Gane again, stating he is "just waiting for dates" from the UFC. Their previous encounter in October 2025 ended in a No Contest due to Gane badly poking Aspinall in both eyes.
Sources (15)
We summarise the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work.
- UFC BJJ champ Mikey Musumeci moves up in weight to face UFC contender in September (Yahoo Sports)
- Rookie Report Card: Grading all Octagon newcomers UFC 329 post-mortem (Yahoo Sports)
- UFC 329 results: Matches to make for ‘McGregor vs. Holloway 2’ main card winners (MMA Mania)
- UFC BJJ champ Mikey Musumeci moves up in weight to face Bryce Mitchell in September (MMA Fighting)
- McGregor's manager says fighter had no knee injury prior to short bout with Max Holloway (Yahoo Sports)
- Mario Bautista wants title shot or No. 1 contender fight after UFC 329 (Yahoo Sports)
- Former UFC flyweight champion booked for Noche UFC 4 (Yahoo Sports)
- Top 8 Heavyweights Collide at UFC 331 in Los Angeles (Yahoo Sports)
- UFC 329 post-event facts: Max Holloway makes three-division history (Yahoo Sports)
- Paddy Pimblett Makes Bold Prediction for Charles Oliveira Fight (Yahoo Sports)
- Brandon Royval calls out Asu Alambayev after UFC 329 win (Yahoo Sports)
- UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall ready to fight Ciryl Gane: ‘We’re just waiting for dates’ (Yahoo Sports)
- Max Holloway Issues Statement After Stopping Conor McGregor (Yahoo Sports)
- Gable Steveson responds to Josh Hokit after dominant UFC 329 debut (Yahoo Sports)
- Paddy Pimblett reacts to Conor McGregor's UFC 329 loss: 'Sad to see' (Yahoo Sports)
Split from that day's roundup, so the sources listed are the full set behind the whole edition rather than this story alone.
This story ran in the July 12, 2026 edition of the daily show.