With the topic of illegal eye pokes fresh on the mind of most in mixed martial arts following last weekend's aborted heavyweight title bout between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, Saturday's co-main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas couldn't have played out in a more bizarre and unprecedented manner.

Heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta went from nearly losing his bout against Ante Delija by first-round TKO inside the UFC Apex despite absorbing a poke to the eye, to having the fight restarted after referee Mark Smith consulted instant replay. Merely seconds later, after uncorking a monstrous, looping right hand that caught Delija flush and floored him, Cortes-Acosta was celebrating an unlikely knockout victory of his own.

Cortes-Acosta (15-2) improved to 6-1 over his last seven fig

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