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?
Safe to say that Ante Delija is not happy with the way things unfolded on Saturday night. He posted an Instagram story where he said that he feels like he was robbed with the way things played out on Saturday which ended with him losing by TKO.
Delija claimed that he hasn’t seen a clear angle of him poking Cortes-Acosta in the eye. That said, Cortes-Acosta had to see a specialist and he posted a picture where you can clearly see the damage that was done to the eye from the poke.
All that being said, I do feel for Delija in the sense that the referee did stop the fight as if it was a TKO. It wasn’t halted like a foul had occurred. To go from pure celebration mode to having to fight just moments later is incredibly difficult to do and I can’t say that it’s completely to blame for Delija’s loss, but I think it gives him an out.
Either way, he did poke his opponent at UFC Vegas 110 and because of that, he shouldn’t have been given a TKO win. Now, he’ll have to reset after his first loss inside the octagon. Lucky for him, the heavyweight division is so shallow in terms of talent, it won’t take much for him to climb back up the latter.
From an opponents standpoint, perhaps you book Delija against the loser of the Serghei Spivac – Shamil Gaziev fight that’s coming up. Valter Walker could also be another option once Walker heals up from his injury. If Tai Tuivasa ever returns, that could be another name for Delija.
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