Robelis Despaigne has entered the UFC with a rather large bang, scoring a blistering 18-second KO over Josh Parisian at UFC 299, in Miami.
Robelis Despaigne, who fights out of Miami, Florida, had a lot of anticipation surrounding his debut because of his storied Taekwondo background. ‘The Big Boy’ has previously competed at the 2012 Olympics in London, and has won several medals in World Championship competition.
Coming into his anticipated UFC debut, his four prior fights had only lasted 37 seconds in total. This one didn’t need long either, as after 18 seconds he was already running over to his corner to celebrate with his team. The 18-second KO marked the second-fastest debut in UFC heavyweight history, with only Todd Duffee’s KO over Tim Hague being faster.
Although his opponent, Parisian, was coming in on a losing streak, he has been an active UFC heavyweight for the last four years making it a big debut win for Despaigne.
Despite Robelis Despaigne being 35 years old, the heavyweight division is one in which youthfulness isn’t imperative. There is only one fighter in the top 15 of the heavyweight division who is on the right side of 30, and that is Sergey Spivac at 29 years old.
Robelis Despaigne calls for $50,000 bonus
After such an impressive performance, Robelis Despaigne spoke to Sportsnet about the victory and called his shot to Dana ‘Blanco’ for the $50,000 performance bonus.
“The message for Dana White is I want the bonus, I want the $50k I think I deserve it. There was a lot of work for me and my whole family working for this.” Despaigne said.
As mentioned before, the Cuban is 35-years-old so likely doesn’t have a whole lot of time in the sport, despite only turning pro in 2022. Robelis admitted that how long he’s in MMA will depend on how long it takes him to get to the title.
“It all depends on how soon I get to the belt. I feel healthy, I feel good and my plan is to become champion and defend the belt a couple of times so it will depend on that.” Despaigne added.