2024-04-06 01:44:42
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
Photo: Robelis Despaigne Instagram
Only 18 seconds needed Robelis Despaigne from Santiago to show that he is serious in the UFC circuit. The former taewondoka, Olympic bronze medalist in London 2012, did not give a veteran like Josh Parisian any chance to unleash a roar of emotion in the thousands of people present who packed the Kaseya Center in Miami.
And UFC 299 has a new idol who seems to break all the molds. At 2.01 meters and weighing 117 kilos, only the late debut at the age of 35 appears to be the only possible rival that is difficult for the Cuban to defeat.
After a long and successful career in taekwondo, in which in addition to third place under the five rings, he collected two world bronzes and a Pan American title, in 2022 Robelis burst into Mixed Martial Arts (MMA, for its acronym in Spanish). English).
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.
That performance made him quickly signed by the Texan company Fury and appear on the radar of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest MMA company on the planet, which quickly agreed to its debut for this Saturday.
“This is something that I had hoped for a long time, but it is now something that has come true,” confessed a euphoric Despaigne after obtaining his fifth victory in mixed martial arts, without yet knowing defeat.
“I want to thank all my Cubans, the people of Miami, the people of Cuba who have supported me from day one,” he added.
In this way, Despaigne becomes the last fighter to participate in the Olympic Games and reach the UFC, as happened with the laureates Henry Cejudo, winner of gold in Beijing 2008, and the former bantamweight monarch Ronda Rousey, who was the first woman to win a medal in this type of events with her silver also in the Chinese capital.