Olympic Medalist & UFC Vet Demolishes Another Opponent in Seconds at Karate Combat 52

"The Big Boy" is two fights into his Karate Combat career and has barely broken a sweat.

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

It looks like Karate Combat might have a major star on its hands in towering knockout artist Robelis Despaigne.

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An Olympic bronze medalist in Taekwondo, Despaigne made the move to MMA in 2022 and brutalized his first four opponents in Titan FC and Fury FC to earn himself a call to the UFC in 2024.

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The 36-year-old accumulated just over a round of in-cage time across his first four fights, and in his promotional debut at UFC 299 "The Big Boy" floored Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds to announce himself as a potential force in the heavyweight division.

Things unfortunately didn't go according to plan for Despaigne following his highlight-reel debut, as decision losses to Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Austen Lane showcased a major hole in the Cuban's grappling and led to his exit from the promotion.

May 11, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Waldo Cortes Acosta (red gloves) fights Robelis Despaigne (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Despaigne made his debut for Karate Combat just two months after exiting the UFC, and the towering striker immediately reignited interest in his career with a tremendous 4-second knockout of Dominik Jędrzejczyk.

The former Olympian was quickly booked for his sophomore outing at Karate Combat 52 in Miami, FL to kick off 2025. It wasn't quite as quick of a finish as in his debut, but Despaigne still ran through Dana White's Contender Series veteran Marcos Brigagão just seconds into the opening round.

ROBELIS DOES IT AGAIN 😱

Is there really no fighter than can last more than 10 seconds in the pit with this guy? How are we ever going to find anyone that want to fight him!!

KC52 is sponsored by:@hedera #HBAR@deloreanlabs@deloreanmotorco pic.twitter.com/1KmReNkqcJ

— Karate Combat (@KarateCombat) January 25, 2025

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Karate Combat has added a number of high-profile names to its roster in recent years and has been making enough waves to earn a broadcast deal with UFC Fight Pass, and it looks like the largely striking-focused promotion and the towering Despaigne might just be a perfect match.

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