Robelis Despaigne is somehow back in the UFC.
On Friday, Despaigne, the Cuban heavyweight, was announced by First Round Management, his agency, to have re-signed with the world’s largest MMA promotion. He is coming off a monstrous eight-win streak, having knocked out former UFC champion Junior dos Santos in Netflix’s MMA debut after dominating in Karate Combat.
The question now looms: will Despaigne have more success in this second chance? Before that, however, one must first look back at his first UFC run.
Despaigne made his Octagon debut in March 2024, in the undercard to Sean O’Malley’s revenge match against Marlon Vera. Facing Contenders Series alum Josh Parisian, he had received much hype in the buildup to the fight. After all, here was a multiple-time taekwondo medalist who had a UFC-record 87″ reach and purportedly better striking than many within his division. Age be damned, he was going to contend for the title in no time!
Despaigne did not disappoint, destroying Parisian in only 18 seconds and earning a Performance of the Night bonus. With that, it was time to fast-track him to the upper echelon. Alas, that was where the problems began.
Despaigne’s next fight came against another Latino in Waldo Cortes-Acosta, two months later. Like Parisian, “Salsa Boy” was a Contenders Series alum, but he had proven more successful thanks to leaning on his wrestling. It was not the most exciting style, but it often got the job done, and it would be a new challenge for “The Bad Boy” to overcome.
Alas, it proved to be one that Despaigne could not. Cortes-Acosta scored a takedown in each round, and while he could not get the finish, he was dominant enough on the ground to earn the decision win. The lackluster nature of that fight irked UFC president, Dana White, who called it “the s***tiest of the night” during the post-event press conference.
Nevertheless, the consensus was that Despaigne had been given too much. If he could be rebuilt gradually, then he would be a contender again. After all, there were many examples of fighters faltering early in there careers before finading lasting success.
With that thinking in mind, the UFC pitted Despaigne against a third Contenders Series alum in Austen Lane. Surely this would go very well, since Lane had been knocked out in his last two fights.
Instead, Despaigne would deliver his worst performance, allowing two takedowns in the first round and another pair within the next two. He also spent a significant amount of time being mounted, his search for the knockout having gone horribly awry. That disaster led to his release only ten days later.
Nearly two years since Despaigne was first banished from the UFC, its heavyweight division has significantly changed.
Tom Aspinall now stands as the heavyweight champion, and all sorts of contenders have emerged. Nevertheless, it still feels as the division is anyone’s to seize (and lose). It is amid this backdrop that Despaigne returns, but the question remains: has he evolved?
Largely focusing on a striking-oriented promotion like Karate Combat meant that Despaigne, “The Bad Boy,” did not spend much time honing his takedown defense. His victory over dos Santos was so brief that analysts will ponder that same question.
Nevertheless, the UFC seems committed to restarting the Despaigne hype train. With that in mind, it needs to give him someone who both is beatable and does not pose a takedown threat. Surely, there are many names within the heavyweight division that fit both criteria.
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Despaigne’s first UFC stint is just an example of the pitfalls of pushing someone too soon simply because of circumstance.
There is the notorious case of Paige VanZant, whose physical attractiveness led Dana White to make her a contender before she was truly ready. Aspen Ladd is another example, albeit because her division was starving for new blood. Most recently, Mingyang Zhang was pushed based on his region, only to falter when his opposition got smarter.
Heavyweight alone has seen Josh Hokit get an express route to contention, entering the Top Five after just four fights. Dana White, however, was wise not to do the same with Gable Steveson despite his name value. Now, here is hoping that Despaigne also receives the same delicate treatment…
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