Chael Sonnen reacts to heavyweight newcomer Robelis Despaigne getting a first-round KO victory in his UFC debut: ‘impressed’, but not completely sold.
Heavyweight Robelis Despaigne dispatched Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds in his promotional debut last weekend at UFC 299, with his last four bouts now having a combined fight time of just 37 seconds.
Speaking on the Good Guy / Bad Guy ESPN show, UFC legend Chael Sonnen explained that whilst he was impressed with Despaigne’s performance, he must “make some corrections” after switching from taekwondo to MMA.
Chael Sonnen is impressed, but not fully sold on Despaigne just yet
Robelis Despaigne vs Josh Parisian was never getting out of the first round, let alone the first minute, with the Cuban debutant earning a vicious KO victory at UFC 299 in Miami last weekend after just 18 seconds.
With the longest reach in official UFC records, Despaigne previously earned a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2012 London Olympic games and since transitioning to MMA, has won all five of his professional bouts by way of first-round knockout.
Speaking with the former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on their most recent episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy, Sonnen explained that despite the 18-second finish, Despaigne has a lot to work on if he is to climb the UFC rankings:
“I’m looking at him from an MMA standpoint, you’re breaking a lot of rules: Your hands are down, you’re looping [punches], your chin is up, but he’s got a lot of power, and he knew where that target was.”
“He’s just a big enough boy that he’s only got to get you one time,” said the former title challenger, adding that if he was in the corner of the Cuban, “There would have been a lot of things fundamentally that were off.”
That being said, ‘Uncle Chael’ is hopeful that thanks to his taekwondo background and Olympic experience, Despaigne can make his mark on the UFC heavyweight division:
“But this a little bit of a different striking art, we’ve never really seen somebody with taekwondo at this level, I don’t recall ever, not just in the heavyweight division of the UFC, I don’t remember ever watching an Olympic medallist in taekwondo go out and do this sport [to this level].”
Yet the true test of Despaigne’s fledgling career isn’t in how quickly he can knock his opponents out, it’s in the improvements to his natural fighting style that can be achieved in between training camps.
“I’m very open to this young man, I do hope that if he’s watching this that he be just as open to hearing a couple of the basics and the fundamentals that we do with these little gloves on and that specific cage, I think if I was to bet, he could make some corrections.”
“I think he’s got to tighten a few things up, he sure does look impressive though.”