Robelis Despaigne Details His Transition from Olympic Medalist to UFC Fighter

For all the new fans of Robelis Despaigne. He was just signed to the UFC at 4-0 with all first round knockout. 6’7 Cuban Olympian with a 87 inch reach. Here’s my client warming up like a middleweight pic.twitter.com/7WjaYJeEkC

— AJ Ariosa (@AjAriosa) December 4, 2023

While Robelis Despaigne was initially apprehensive about dabbling in mixed martial arts, it did not take him long to get signed with the world’s top promotion once he did.

Despaigne (4-0) scored a four-second knockout win over Miles Banks at Fury FC 84 in Houston on Dec. 3. This was the fourth consecutive knockout for “The Bad Boy” in as many outings, with the last three coming in a total fight time of 19 seconds. In an unprecedented move, Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmaker Mick Maynard signed Despaigne within minutes of his win over Banks, which was also announced live on the broadcast. Speaking about the surreal experience, Despaigne recently told MMA Junkie:

“It’s finally happened. My dream finally happened…I knocked him out. They raised my hand and I was pulled for an interview. When I came back, I spoke to my manager AJ Ariosa literally two minutes after the fight and he told me, ‘Hey, you’re signed to the UFC.’ Three minutes after that, they announced it in the cage. That’s how it happened.”

A 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in Taekwondo from Cuba, Despaigne began training at the age of nine and made it to the national team at 16. However, the Cuban national began to be estranged from the sport due to external factors, at which point his coach recommended he transition to MMA. The 6-foot-7 heavyweight standout said:

“It was amazing. Since Cuba’s Angel Valodia Matos won the Olympics (in 2000), I looked up to him. Every person that is an amateur, that’s the biggest tournament you can go to. You’re representing your country. … Once I got to that, I had to leave with a medal. Of course, I wanted gold. But I had to leave with a medal for my country.”

“I was losing love for the sport in 2012. A lot was going on in Cuba where I wasn’t really happy about the sport. I was loving love of it. My coach kept on telling me to do MMA. But all I had seen about the UFC and MMA was knockouts. I was like, ‘I don’t want to get knocked out.’ I was skeptical about it. But then I started watching the fight and was like, ‘I can actually do this. I’m going to go ahead and try this.’ Yeah, that’s what happened. That’s why I went into MMA.”

Despaigne kicked off training MMA in Cuba in 2019 and moved to Orlando, Florida in 2022. With the UFC 300 being targeted for a yet-to-be-decided venue in Miami in March, “The Bad Boy” is plotting a debut in his new home state.

“My ambitions have been very high through everything I’ve done. That’s not going to change now. I want to fight three or four times next year. That’s for sure. And I want to hopefully fight for the belt in one or two years. … I’m going to fight for the belt – and win it.”