Robelis Despaigne defeated Junior dos Santos via KO in the first round at MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano.
The heavyweight bout took place on Saturday at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Despaigne’s Victory Over dos Santos
The official result was Robelis Despaigne def. Junior dos Santos via KO (R1, 2:59).
Despaigne said he saw dos Santos stumbling after a leg kick, and that’s when he struck.
Dos Santos landed a right, but Despaigne connected with a counter.
Despaigne landed an uppercut, and then another. Dos Santos avoided the worst of the flurry, but Despaigne tagged dos Santos with a massive paw to the jaw, ending the fight.
Junior dos Santos is a former UFC heavyweight champion with notable wins over Cain Velasquez, Stipe Miocic, Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cro Cop, Derrick Lewis, and Frank Mir.
Dos Santos is 23-10. His UFC run ended in 2020 with four consecutive losses.
Despaigne’s MMA and Karate Combat Background
Despaigne has lost his past two MMA fights.
Despaigne is a former UFC fighter who has been reborn as one of the faces of Karate Combat, scoring multiple highlight-reel knockouts. Despaigne won a heavyweight title in Karate Combat.
He had multiple knockouts in 20 seconds or less.
What’s Next for Despaigne
Despaigne wants to return to MMA, but thanks Karate Combat for getting him to this point. He then called out Francis, saying “Francis, let’s do it.”
The former champ dos Santos was the underdog at +235 on FanDuel, while Robelis Despaigne was a considerable favourite at -320.