Robelis Despaigne, a Cuban MMA fighter, is set to make his highly-anticipated UFC debut at UFC 299 in the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Despaigne will take on Josh Parisian in a heavyweight bout in the early prelims card. ‘The Bad Boy’ outlined his plan to move up the ladder in the UFC heavyweight division in his latest interview.
According to the UFC, Despaigne is pumped for his UFC debut. He made his MMA debut in Florida and is hoping to garner Cuban and Latin support during his UFC debut in Florida as well.
First look at Robelis Despaigne in #UFC threads 🔥🇨🇺
He’s 6’7” with an 87” reach, a UFC record, and he makes his UFC debut against Josh Parisian this weekend at #UFC299 pic.twitter.com/BIVjNvb69l
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 7, 2024
He wasted no time in admitting that he wanted to win right off the bat. The Cuban fighter showed utmost respect to Parisian claiming he was a complete and experienced fighter, however, Despaigne showed trust in the fact that he had a good fight camp. He claimed that his game plan would help earn a win.
The 35-year-old is eager to make his debut and claimed that he would continue his streak of first-round KOs. “I’ll finish him first round,” he said via a translator.
Moreover, he talked about wanting to fight four or five times this year. Despaigne believes he can break into the top 15 rankings after UFC 299 and then slowly but surely he would reach the top.
Robelis Despaigne is an Olympic medallist and boasts an exceptional MMA record
Despaigne began training in taekwondo at the age of nine. He was an exceptional taekwondo fighter and earned the opportunity to represent Cuba at the 2012 Olympics in London. Despaigne earned the bronze medal at the Olympics in taekwondo in the heavyweight category. However, he was displeased with how the sporting scenario was in his country and he was advised to take up MMA.
Despaigne began training in MMA in 2019. Due to the pandemic, his participation in a pro-MMA bout kept getting delayed. He moved to Florida in 2022 and fought for the first time at Titan FC 77 in June 2022. Despaigne defeated Katuma Mulumba via TKO in the first round after over 4:50 minutes.
Robelis Despaigne makes his debut this weekend
📍Longest wingspan in UFC history
📍Olympic Taekwando Medalist
📍Last three fights have lasted 19 seconds altogethercan’t wait for this #UFC299
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 4, 2024
The Olympic medallist fought again in June 2023, at Fury FC 80, and earned another first-round KO win but this time in just 12 seconds. Next, he fought Stevie Payne at Fury Challenger Series 7 in September 2023. The result was the same- a first-round KO win for Despaigne, however, the timing was even better this time. He earned the win in just three seconds. He started the fight with a powerful kick and landed a punch as well to end it.
In his last MMA fight, he defeated Miles Bank at Fury FC 84 in December 2023. He won that fight via another first-round KO in just four seconds.
Despaigne possesses the longest wingspan recorded in UFC history
Robelis Despaigne is a physical specimen. He is 6 ft 7 in tall and possesses a reach of 87 inches. A reach of this length has never been recorded inside the UFC Octagon.
In comparison, current UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is 6 ft 4 in tall and has an 84.5-inch reach. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou is also 6 ft 4 in tall with a reach of 83 inches.
Robelis Despaigne is going to be a problem pic.twitter.com/wKhtJZMh5i
— Casual MMA (@CasualMMAinc) March 6, 2024
Despaigne surpasses two of the best heavyweights in height and reach far too easily. His record is exceptional as well. However, his first taste of the UFC will give us a much better idea of how he would fare in the promotion.