The UFC octagon hosted thrilling fights on Saturday, May 11th, 2024, including the much-anticipated fight between 6’7 taekwondo Olympic medalist Robelis Despaigne[5-1-0] and UFC fighter Waldo Cortes Acosta[12-1-0].
The match headlined the main event, and Despaigne came in with vicious blows in round one. Her lands a big right over the top and Acosta counters with a jab. He went in for a takedown and worked a half guard position before landing some heavy ground and pound. Acosta goes in for an arm lock but Despaigne manages to escape. ‘Salsa Boy’ remained on top and continued to land elbow shots till the round ended.
Round two saw the heavyweights clash with big punches and kicks. Acosta launched a jab and kicked before a right over the top. He followed with a head kick before a clinch. Despaigne fired some hard kicks, and Acosta responded with a clean uppercut before going for a takedown. He moved to full mount and worked some body shots and hammer fists that connected with Despaigne’s chin.
The final round showed the teo trading heavy kicks before a clinch by Acosta. He went in for a takedown where he continued a ground and pound till the fight came to a close. Round after round ‘The Big Boy’ remained on his back and couldn’t escape the hold Acosta had on him till the match ended in a unanimous decision loss for him.
There was a lot of hope and hype for the Cuban as he had a four-KO winning streak record in his pre-UFC fights. After his octagon debut, where Despagine destroyed his opponent Josh Parisan[15-8-0] in a vicious fourteen-second knockout. Alot of MMA and Olympic fans have had their eyes on the fighter, but Waldo Cortes Acosta- who has had a two-fight win streak after defeating Lukasz Brzeski[9-4-0] and Andrei Arlovski [34-23-0]- seized the opportunity and showed Despaigne a little ground play in the cage.
