This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 110, we saw a pivotal matchup in the heavyweight division. Top ten contenders battled it out as Waldo Cortes-Acosta (15-2) took on former PFL heavyweight champ Ante Delija (26-7).
This fight was very interesting in the way that it played out. In the first round, Delija was stalking Cortes-Acosta against the cage and then unleashed a combination. Cortes-Acosta covered up and crumbled and ultimately, the fight was stopped giving Delija the TKO win.
However, then it started to become clear as to what happened. What started the sequence was an eye poke from Delija and you could tell that Cortes-Acosta was mainly hurt due to the poke more than anything that Delija threw at him that was legitimate.
The referee ultimately said that if Cortes-Acosta could continue, the fight would resume. Cortes-Acosta was clearly compromised with his vision, but he opted to continue the fight. Shortly after that, he blasted Delija with a massive right that dropped him. A few follow up shots later and Cortes-Acosta pulled off the incredible TKO win at UFC Vegas 110.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 110?
This fight was crazy in terms of what happened in such a short amount of time. In less than ten minutes of real time, Delija got the TKO win only to have it taken away due to him poking Cortes-Acosta in the eye and then Cortes-Acosta stopped Delija just moments later.
It was a huge win for Cortes-Acosta who got back on track after he saw his win streak snapped earlier this year by Sergei Pavlovich. That said, there was apparently a lot going on behind the scenes ahead of that fight and Cortes-Acosta wanted to prove on Saturday that he’s one of the best heavyweights in the UFC.
With this win, I think he deserves someone in the top five and the perfect next step is Curtis Blaydes. Blaydes is ranked fourth and is due back sometime early next year after recovering from an injury. Makes a ton of sense in my book and would vault the winner into title contention.
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