On last fight of deal, Jared Vanderaa switched camps and vows to finish Waldo Cortes-Acosta to earn a new contract

By Cole Shelton - October 28, 2022

Jared Vanderaa will be fighting for his UFC career on Saturday night.

Jared Vanderaa

Vanderaa is set to face Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 63 in a do-or-die spot for his career. He’s on a four-fight losing skid but the promotion is giving him the final fight on his deal due to him taking short-notice fights.

“It’s my last fight on my deal, so regardless I’m now officially fighting for my job. I know my manager is solid and he does his job and that’s why I have my own job,” Vanderaa said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I also have paid dividends by taking a lot of short-notice fights so they are like you have helped us, we are going to help you by honoring your last fight on the contract.”

With this being the last fight on his deal and Vanderaa fighting for his job, he made a big change as he switched camps to Kings MMA. According to Vanderaa, he felt this was a necessary change for his career as he didn’t think he was getting better at his last camp.

“I made some more noticeable changes, I am now at Kings MMA instead of Dan’s,” Vanderaa said. “A lot of people are already liking the results they are seeing from me from Kings so I hope I can show something new, something more… I love everyone at Dan’s but at the end of the day I felt I became stagnant and plateaued; I didn’t think I got better.”

After training at Kings MMA, Jared Vanderaa believes he has gotten much better and is confident he has the tools to win this fight on the ground or on the feet. Vanderaa knows Waldo Cortes-Acosta is a great boxer, but Vanderaa is confident he can extend this fight and eventually get a stoppage win.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know. Kings is very striking orientated but are very much willing to push the jiu-jitsu,” Vanderaa said. “I’ve been doing everything that they are telling me to do, and I feel like I’ve improved everywhere and am getting more confident to take this fight more places than I have been in the past. Just be willing to take it to the ground or strike. I’m going to take the openings. I want to finish him.”

Should Vanderaa get the stoppage win over Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 63, he believes he will get another contract but knows he’d still be at the bottom of the heavyweight ranks.

“Still on the bottom end. Another guy in the same area as me, like Jake Collier, or hell, I’d even run it back with Arlovski. Wherever they point, I will go,” Vanderaa said.

Do you think Jared Vanderaa will finish Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 63?


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