Waldo Cortes-Acosta Wants All of Josh Hokit's Teeth, Becoming Heavyweight Division's First Collector

LAS VEGAS — I have covered grudges for 31 years. I have covered a man who wanted a rematch. I have covered a man who wanted an apology. I have never covered a man who wanted the other guy’s whole mouth.

Until Friday.

UFC heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta was asked about Josh Hokit, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reported. He did not ask for a belt. He did not ask for a date. He asked for inventory.

“I want one day, meeting him or being in the ring and take it out—whole teeth, whole mouth,” Cortes-Acosta said.

Whole teeth. Whole mouth. Not some of the teeth. Not the good ones. The set. This is not a fighter. This is a collector, and Hokit is the rare piece.

How we got here

This goes back to January. At UFC 324, Hokit won and grabbed the microphone and called out Cortes-Acosta, and he brought the man’s family into it, MMA Junkie reported. In this business you can say a lot about a fella. You leave his kids out of it. My father taught me that, and so did a Little League umpire in 1997, the only official from that year I have forgiven.

In May, Cortes-Acosta told reporters he ran into Hokit at the UFC’s Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Later, in an elevator, Hokit asked for forgiveness and said the callout was just promotion, MMA Junkie reported. Cortes-Acosta did not accept.

“You’re not worth anything,” he said he told Hokit. “You better prepare yourself well because one day you and I are going to fight.”

That was May. By November the forecast had become specific.

The schedule problem

Here is the thing. Neither man is fighting the other any time soon.

Cortes-Acosta, 17-4, fights Johnny Walker on Saturday at UFC Vegas 124, a bout he took on short notice. Hokit, who is 10-0, fights Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden.

So Hokit goes to the Garden next week with a title shot and every one of his teeth. Win or lose, he will be carrying around something another heavyweight has publicly reserved. That is a lot of pressure on a mouth.

“I’m no fan of him,” Cortes-Acosta added, in case anybody missed the part about the teeth.

He did give Hokit some credit. “Josh Hokit is a personality in there, but it’s still moving the heavyweight division,” he said. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said right after saying they want all of your teeth. I have heard worse from referees, and none of them meant it.

Where this leaves the rest of us

I rank concession nachos by the cheese-to-chip ratio. I rank grudges by specificity. This one is off the chart.

“I’m going to beat you” is a three. “I’m going to knock you out” is a six. “Whole teeth, whole mouth” is a 10, and it comes with a mouthguard industry that is suddenly very interested in Hokit’s business.

Hokit should win at the Garden. He should also floss. Nobody should go into a fight with that much on the line and plaque.

Verdict: Hokit keeps his title hopes and his teeth through Nov. 14; after that, Cortes-Acosta has a waiting list of one.