"My eye is like 20% vision" - Waldo Cortes Acosta takes swipe at Tom Aspinall after beating champion's teammate Ante Delija

Waldo Cortes Acosta (pictured) after his UFC Vegas 110 win. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]
Waldo Cortes Acosta (pictured) after his UFC Vegas 110 win. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]

Waldo Cortes Acosta shone at UFC Vegas 110, delivering a brutal first-round knockout over Ante Delija. 'Salsa Boy', who had been eye-poked earlier in the fight, later took a swipe at his opponent's teammate, Tom Aspinall.

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The Fight Night almost turned into a sour memory for Acosta as his opponent poked him in the eye early in the first round and followed it up with a flurry of punches, forcing referee Mark Smith to stop the fight momentarily.

However, a review of the tape indicated a clear eye poke, and 'Salsa Boy' was given time to recover. Despite still hurting from the foul, the 34-year-old chose to continue the fight.

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Soon after, he uncorked a perfect counter right hand that floored his opponent. Acosta quickly pounced on the opportunity with vicious ground and pound for a Round 1 KO win.

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During his post-fight interview, the heavyweight took aim at the division's kingpin, who had, just a week ago, withdrawn from his title defense after getting poked in the eye:

"I don’t know the referee or something [thought my opponent] didn’t poke me in the eyes. I decided to continue because I feel I can continue, my eye is at like 20 percent vision. So I said, 'I don't give a f**k.'.. Tom Aspinall, you saw the fight, no? I go for you. Be ready, okay. I’ll be ready."
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Check out Waldo Cortes Acosta's callout of Tom Aspinall below:

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For context, Aspinall chose not to continue fighting at UFC 321 after he was poked in both eyes by heavyweight title challenger Ciryl Gane in the opening round. While a post-fight medical examination revealed that the Briton had suffered no permanent damage, he has been advised to undergo a subsequent eye checkup in a week.


Waldo Cortes Acosta gets 100% real about how he continued fighting after the eye-poke

Waldo Cortes Acosta was still hurting from the eye-poke when he returned to fighting after the five-minute break, and it was his mental fortitude that helped him fight through it.

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Speaking at the post-fight presser, the heavyweight came noted that his eyesight was getting continually worse the more he rested. In the end, it seems anger was the catalyst that led him to a victory:

"Bother, the eye was getting worse and worse. What happened was the emotions, me being angry, it pushed me up [to] still continue fighting." [3:02 minutes into the interview]

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Edited by Ujwal Jain
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