by croatiaweek
November 2, 2025
in
Croatian heavyweight Ante Delija suffered defeat in his second UFC appearance on Saturday night, losing to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a controversial technical knockout at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
The Dominican fighter claimed victory in the first round via TKO, but the bout immediately sparked debate among fans and analysts, with many believing the fight should have been stopped moments earlier, when Delija appeared to have secured the win himself.
In the chaotic sequence, Delija knocked down Cortes-Acosta and seemed on the verge of victory. However, during the replay, it was revealed that Delija’s fingers made contact near his opponent’s eyes.
According to UFC rules, such an incident should have resulted in a stoppage or no-contest, rather than the fight being restarted, a situation reminiscent of Tom Aspinall’s previous title bout that ended following an eye poke.
Delija: “I was robbed”
Following the loss, Delija took to social media to express his frustration, outlining five key points in which he felt the officiating failed him:
– “I’m not sure if I hit him in the eye, it looked close but not direct. I’d like to see the footage showing exactly what happened.”
– “The referee didn’t call a time-out; he stopped the fight and declared me the winner. That decision cannot be changed later.”
– “My opponent was sitting and resting while the replay was reviewed.”
– “The replay was used after the stoppage, which is not allowed by the rules.”
– “After everything, the fight was resumed irregularly.”
Delija concluded:
“I’m not asking for anything more than fairness. I respect every opponent and every outcome, but not when the rules are broken. Not when I’m robbed like this. The sport hasn’t seen anything like it.”
After the fight, Cortes-Acosta explained his side of the incident:
“I felt a finger go deep into my eye. The referee said stop, so I stopped. I decided to continue because I felt I could, even though I had only about 20 percent vision in that eye,” he said.
The Dominican heavyweight added passionately: “I’m mad, I’m Dominican, that’s in my blood. I’ll come back stronger. I want to be world champion.”