Waldo Cortes-Acosta Knocks Out Thomas Peterson to Capture Heavyweight Title at LFA 129

CORTES-ACOSTA LANDS BIG!!!

Can he close it out?!?!#LFA129 pic.twitter.com/UL01IcBUWp

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 16, 2022

It was rough going for Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the main event of LFA 129 inside Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, on Friday night, but he eventually scored a dramatic knockout in the third round to become the first ever Dominican champion in the organization’s history.

Thomas Petersen was defending his Legacy Fighting Alliance heavyweight title comfortably early on as he took Cortes-Acosta down multiple times and hammered him with punches to the head, arms and body. Even when the two were on their feet, Peterson was landing the cleaner punches, only to have the challenger talk trash and dare him to keep trying to hit him or take him down. But as the fight wore on, Peterson’s gas tank betrayed him and it allowed Cortes-Acosta to capitalize.

Peterson was gasping for air late in the third as he trudged forward, and he walked directly into a perfect left hook, right cross combo to the face. The punches buckled his knees and while Peterson (5-1) tried to steer the ship, Cortes-Acosta unfurled several follow-up punches until a final right to the head dropped Peterson face-first onto the canvas. Referee Rob Madrigal immediately waived it off, ending the brawl at 4:53 of the third.

Featherweights Hyder Amil and Devante Sewell electrified the sellout crowd with a three-round war that could have gone to either man in the co-main. Amil (6-0) appeared to be on his way to a first-round TKO after he rocked Sewell with several elbows to the head, but Sewell (9-7) weathered the storm and began landing heavy punches in return. The two tore into other down the stretch, but it was Amil who took home the win via split decision with scores of 29-28 and 30-27, while a third judge favored Sewell 29-28.

Tyus White raised his pro ledger to 5-1 with a dominant performance over fellow flyweight Jeff Jepsen and took him out late in the first. Jepsen (6-4) shot in for a single-leg takedown, but he slipped right into a counter brabo choke. After White took the scramble to the ground, he locked in the choke whilst sitting and scored the tap at the 4:44 mark.

Young middleweight prospect Dylan Budka used his strength and clinch work to eventually take Tee Cummins down in the second before subbing him. Cummins (4-2) defended the takedown attempts multiple times until Budka (3-1) scooped him up ala Matt Hughes against Frank Trigg, carried him across the cage and slammed him down in his own corner. Budka eventually locked in the rear-naked choke and forced the tap at the 3:11 mark of the frame.

Bantamweight Quang Le improved to 4-0 with a unanimous decision win over Sam Paneitz (2-2) to open the LFA 129 main card.