2024-04-03 13:57:12
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial
Photo: Robelis Despaigne / Instagram
Just 10 days after his spectacular debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the date and rival of former Cuban taekwondoka Robelis Despaigne is already known in his next presentation within the circuit of the world’s leading Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) company. for its acronym in English).
After destroying the experienced Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds on March 9 in Miami, the Olympic bronze medalist will have the Dominican Waldo Cortés-Acosta as a new challenger on May 11, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, United States .
According to MMA Latin America on the social network His opponent, known as “Salsa Boy,” has four wins in five fights after signing a contract in Dana White’s Contender Series, the last of which was on January 13 against the Belarusian Andrei Arlovski, according to the Sher Dog site.
Despaigne broke into mixed martial arts in 2022 after a long and successful career in taekwondo that led him to the podium at London 2012 in the +80 kilogram category. In that sport he also won the Pan American title in Guadalajara 2011 and a pair of world bronzes in 2013 and 2015.
In his first fight, it took him less than five minutes to achieve victory, but then his power was such that his next three KOs did not exceed 20 seconds combined, something never before seen in that scenario.
Such performance by “The Big Boy” made him quickly signed by the Texan company Fury and appeared on the radar of the UFC circuit, which did not wait long to make his debut against a veteran of 23 professional fights like Parisian in a crowded Keyesa Center in the city. from South Florida.
The Antillean, 2.01 meters tall and weighing 117 kilograms, now also boasts of having entered the select group of fighters who participated in the Olympic Games and later landed in the UFC, as happened with the laureates Henry Cejudo, winner of gold in Beijing. 2008, and former bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey also won silver in the Chinese capital.