UFC Vegas 110 fighter wants answers after bout was restarted before KO loss

A fighter on the UFC Vegas 110 card is not happy about his bizarre loss this past Saturday.

Ante Delija shared the Octagon with Waldo Cortes-Acosta inside the UFC Apex. Initially, Delija thought he scored a TKO victory after delivering a barrage of punches to Cortes-Acosta. It was determined that an eye poke from Delija led to what would’ve been the fight-ending sequence, so the bout was restarted.

Moments later, Cortes-Acosta turned the tables and scored a knockout finish over Delija. In the aftermath of UFC Vegas 110, Delija is seeking answers through his Instagram account (via MMAMania.com).

“I’m not sure if I hit him in the eye,” Delija wrote in an Instagram Story. “I think it’s near the eye and of course I want a video where you can see that sting correctly! The referee did not show ‘time-out,’ but stopped the fight and therefore declared me the winner,” Delija continued.

“That decision cannot be changed later! The opponent sat and relaxed while watching the footage for more than a few minutes! Replay used after the interruption – which rules do not allow!! After [it] all, the fight continued irregularly! I ask for nothing more, just honesty. I don’t run from defeat, I respect every opponent and every outcome. But not when rules are broken and I am robbed. Not in this way. The sport hasn’t seen this yet!!!”

The unusual fight finish occurred just days after Delija called for stiffer penalties to fighters who catch their opponents with eye pokes. The comment was made in the wake of Ciryl Gane’s inadvertent double eye poke on Tom Aspinall, which ended the UFC 321 main event prematurely.

Delija entered UFC Vegas 110 with two straight victories. This is his first defeat since April 2024 when he fought under the PFL MMA banner. He was stopped by Valentin Moldavsky via first-round TKO.