Cortes will fight under the Zuffa Boxing banner for the first time and move up to lightweight when he faces Eridson Garcia in a 10-round bout in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 5 on Paramount+ on Sunday at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Cortes, a Henderson, Nevada, native, will also headline a card for the first time in his career.

“It means a lot to me,” Cortes told The Ring. “It's my first main event. It's everything that I've worked for and envisioned as a young kid. Here in my hometown, it's a great opportunity for me in my career.”

Cortes (24-0, 13 KOs) was previously promoted by Top Rank before landing with Zuffa Boxing earlier this year. He last fought on October 18, defeating Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo by fourth-round knockout.

Cortes steadily climbed the ranks, with his most significant coming via unanimous decision against Abraham Nova in 2024, though he missed weight for the 10-round junior lightweight contest. He also had a title eliminator against Charly Suarez fall through later that year due to an injury he suffered in training camp.

Cortes, 28, is ranked inside the top five by the WBC and WBO, but had diverted his focus from fighting for a world title before signing with Zuffa.

“I gave all those other rankings up,” Cortes said. Mentally, I've haven’t wanted to go those routes. You have to do so much, and after I fought Bryan Chevalier, I was ranked two with the WBO, and somehow, I just kept going backwards. I don’t really believe in those anymore.”

Cortes stopped Chevalier in the second round for a secondary WBO title in 2024.

Garcia (23-1, 14 KOs), of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is coming off a split decision victory over the previously unbeaten Taiga Imanaga on December 27. The 31-year-old southpaw has won six straight fights since suffering his lone defeat in 2023.

Garcia is the first southpaw Cortes has faced since 2018.

“As an amateur, I would be happy if I were competing against southpaws,” Cortes said. “My first three fights in the U.S. were all southpaws, which is not common, because usually you try to avoid southpaws. Early on, I was always really comfortable with southpaws.

“There's a certain way to work them, and some fighters can't do it, but it's pretty much that you guys are doing kind of the same things to each other. As much as they have the advantage, you also have an advantage, and I don't think that fighters see it that way. Anything a southpaw can do to you, you can do to them.”