Cortes Acosta vs. Walker Prediction, UFC Fight Night 293 Odds & Best Bets (11/7)

Fact checked at 9:10 AM ET, Nov 7, 2026

Odds as of 8:21 AM ET, Nov 7, 2026

UFC Fight Night comes from the Meta APEX in Las Vegas tonight, with the main card starting at 8:00 PM ET. The headliner was put together late. The scheduled welterweight main event between Gabriel Bonfim and Sean Brady fell apart when Brady was hurt, and No. 6 heavyweight Waldo Cortes Acosta (17-4) and Johnny Walker (23-10) stepped in. Walker took the fight on short notice, 35 days after his first UFC heavyweight fight. Cortes Acosta is fighting for the fourth time this year and lost decisions to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes in his last two. All 28 fighters made weight, Cortes Acosta at 262 pounds and Walker at 239.

Our two picks back the favorites in the top two fights, Cortes Acosta at -230 and Tatiana Suarez at -200 against Virna Jandiroba, and the chin across the cage decides how each one wins. Walker has been knocked out six times, so we want Cortes Acosta to end it. Jandiroba has never been finished, so we want Suarez on the scorecards. Both are method-of-victory bets: Suarez has to win a decision of any kind, Cortes Acosta has to win by knockout or TKO (a doctor's stoppage counts as a TKO under standard house rules), and a draw loses either one.

Cortes Acosta vs. Walker Predictions

• Pick #1: Tatiana Suarez by Decision (-110)
• Pick #2: Waldo Cortes Acosta by KO/TKO (-115)

PICK #1: Tatiana Suarez by Decision (-110)

Nobody has finished Virna Jandiroba. She has 27 professional fights and four losses, and the judges decided all four, including a title fight against Mackenzie Dern. Six of her last seven fights went the distance, the latest a win over Tabatha Ricci. Nine of her 13 UFC fights reached the judges, and her average UFC fight runs a little over 13 minutes.

That record is why we like the price. Suarez at -200 implies a 66.7% chance to win, and -110 on a decision implies 52.4%, so the market has roughly one in five Suarez wins ending early. Against this opponent, that looks too high.

Suarez has the tools to win those rounds. She averages 4.52 takedowns per 15 minutes, and Jandiroba stops 73% of the takedowns she faces. Suarez's only loss came in a title fight with Zhang Weili, and since then she has beaten Amanda Lemos on the cards and submitted Loopy Godinez in the second round. The likeliest fight has Suarez on top, banking rounds, with Jandiroba defending well enough from her back to hear the final bell.

The mat cuts both ways. Jandiroba has 14 submission wins, so time in her guard isn't comfortable for Suarez, and Suarez has finished most of her own wins, the Godinez choke among them. A finish by either woman loses this.

PICK #2: Waldo Cortes Acosta by KO/TKO (-115)

Walker's chin is the biggest question in the main event. Six of his 10 career losses came by knockout. Four of them came in the UFC at light heavyweight, against Corey Anderson, Jamahal Hill, Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir, and none of those four fights reached the third round. He knocked out Mick Parkin in his first UFC heavyweight fight, but one fight at the new weight doesn't prove much, and tonight he gives up 23 pounds to a top-10 heavyweight who has never been stopped in 21 pro fights.

Cortes Acosta brings the power. Four of his last seven wins came by knockout or TKO, over Ryan Spann, Ante Delija, Shamil Gaziev and Derrick Lewis. At -230 he's a 69.7% favorite to win, and the -115 here implies 53.5%, so the bet needs about three of every four Cortes Acosta wins to end by knockout or TKO. Walker's record says that when he loses, he usually gets put away.

The risk is Cortes Acosta's patience. Nine of his 14 UFC fights went to the judges, including the Volkov and Blaydes losses, and Walker has 18 knockout wins of his own. Both men are also on short turnarounds: Walker is making his second walk in 35 days, and Cortes Acosta is back eight weeks after the Blaydes loss. If Walker keeps this at range and it becomes a points fight, the pick loses.

21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.