The official records show that Waldo Cortes-Acosta defeated Ante Delija by first-round knockout in the co-main event of the UFC Fight Night which took place on the 1st of November at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But the result on-paper does not accurately tell the entire story, and this one began earlier this week when Delija, who is a training partner and friend of Tom Aspinall, appeared to criticize Ciryl Gane for the way in which his errant fingers fouled the British slugger by poking him in each eye. Aspinall complained about losing his vision, and the referee ruled a No Contest in the fight. The UFC is reportedly set to make sweeping changes because of the way in which the fight finished.
Delija said in all the pro MMA fights he’s ever been in, he’s never poked somebody in the eye. That was until Saturday when he seemed to poke Cortes-Acosta in the eye, thought he’d won by finish, only to end up on the canvas himself because of a knockout loss.
Ante Delija Eye-Pokes Waldo Cortes-Acosta Days After Ciryl Gane Criticism
Earlier this week, Delija talked to reporters through a translator about the Aspinall-Gane fight. “I really don’t understand,” he said. “I had 33 fights and I never poked somebody in the eye, and I do believe the punishment for that should be severe.”
In his step-up bout versus Cortes-Acosta, Delija thought he had earned a win via knockout. However, a video-replay showed that Aspinall’s friend had struck Cortes-Acosta in the eye with his fingers. As footage showed Cortes-Acosta was in a bad way because of a foul, the referee allowed him time to recover.
When he came back into the fight, he smashed Delija to smithereens, and won by knockout to cap an extraordinary sequence of events.
Watch the finish right here:
To really make this fight a full circle moment, Cortes-Acosta got on the microphone and said, in his post-fight interview that, even though his vision was compromised, he wanted to continue. He then called out Aspinall directly for a shot at the UFC heavyweight champion’s title.
“He poked me in the eyes,” Cortes-Acosta told UFC commentator and former two-weight UFC champion Dan Cormier
“I decide to continue because I feel my eyes are 20% vision, I say I don’t give a f***. Aspinall … I go for you. Be ready, okay?”
Cortes-Acosta’s call-out is not without merit.
The victory advanced his pro MMA record to 15 wins (7 KOs and 1 Sub) against two losses. And, as he was ranked No.6 in the division ahead of the bout, it’s likely the victory could see him leap-frog Jailton Almeida into fifth place. Considering Aspinall has wins over everyone ranked above Almeida, except for Gane, Cortes-Acosta could now find himself next in line.
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