Did illegal blows lead to Stephens' KO of Emmett at UFC Orlando?

Jeremy Stephens' latest win wasn't without controversy.

The heavy-handed featherweight starched Josh Emmett in the second round of UFC on FOX 28's closer on Saturday, but was accused of landing several illegal blows en route to the stoppage by a cageside Daniel Cormier - who was calling the action - before he'd even left the Octagon.

The finishing sequence began with a left hook that sent Emmett to the canvas, one Stephens followed with vicious elbows Cormier suspected might have struck Emmett in the back of the head. Blows to that area are forbidden.

As a rocked and kneeling Emmett tried to get back to his feet, Stephens threw a knee that appeared to have grazed his foe on the head on the way down - another potential infraction, as knees to the head of a downed opponent aren't permitted. Neither perceived foul was met with any admonishment from referee Dan Miragliotta, who was met with scrutiny for apparently neglecting to bring a halt to the action when the questionable strikes landed.

The fight-ending elbows Stephens then rained on Emmett from top position were perfectly kosher. In other words, the controversy lies not in the catalyst or the end of the finishing sequence, but what came in between.

As Cormier pointed out in a debate with in-studio analyst Dominick Cruz - Stephens' longtime training partner at Alliance MMA - the knee to the head of a downed fighter need only make contact, not rock its target or finish the fight, to be ruled illegal.

It remains to be seen whether Emmett will appeal the result of the fight to the Florida State Boxing Commission - the event's sanctioning body - to argue the controversial blows were directly responsible for the knockout as opposed to the left hook and elbows that sandwiched them.