In a surprising turn of events, UFC heavyweight Robelis Despaigne has reportedly been cut from the promotion. The Cuban former Olympian had a remarkably short stint at the UFC, lasting just around seven months. To be fair, this time was quite productive as ‘Big Boy’ fought three times in that span.

Coming into the UFC undefeated with all four of his wins being first-round finishes- three of them knockouts within the first thirty seconds- there was a lot of hype surrounding him. Some fans went as far as to call him the ‘next Francis Ngannou‘ because of his fearsome power and ability to put opponents’ lights out with one punch.

But his UFC stint has been quite forgettable and showed that ‘Big Boy’ was perhaps not quite ready for the highest level of the sport. While Despaigne’s first UFC fight went perfectly where the Cuban heavyweight slept Josh Parisian in twenty seconds in their Fight Night clash in March 2024. However, he lost both of his next two fights, with his glaring lack of any ground game being crystal clear for the world to see.

Now the knockout artist will have to go back to the regional circuit, improve his game, and hopefully grind his way back up to another UFC stint. Of course, some feel the problem with that is he will face opponents that are nowhere near UFC level, whom we know he can utterly dominate because of his fearsome power and extraordinary speed for his size.

But to be fair, ‘Big Boy’ had only four fights in the smaller promotions before and thus didn’t face any really good fighters that the Titan FC or the Fury FC had to offer. This time around, things might be different. But with the Cuban already being 36 years old, the clock is ticking on his career. While Despaigne may not be the next Francis Ngannou quite yet, ‘The Predator’ himself has lived up to his hype at his new home, which has benefitted immensely from his presence.

Francis Ngannou’s PFL deal is a win-win for all parties involved as he KOs Ferreria on debut

When Francis Ngannou left the UFC last year, he had no other offer on the table. But after being perilously close to leaving his fighting career behind and moving back to Cameroon, the PFL came through. The UFC’s biggest competitor swooped in and offered Ngannou terms the UFC was unwilling to, including letting him box.

And this deal seems to have worked out well for everybody. Ngannou got to live his wish of boxing at the highest level. ‘The Predator’ nearly scripted the biggest upset in all of combat sports history in his pro boxing debut against Tyson Fury, but failed to overcome the challenge of Anthony Joshua.

Not to mention he made sure his PFL opponents were very well taken care of financially, securing a $2 million minimum payout for anyone he fights. None of which the UFC would have agreed to in a thousand years. And the PFL was able to put on one of its rare PPV cards earlier this month, built around Ngannou and his bona fide MMA superstar status. And Ngannou, unsurprisingly, continued his winning ways, knocking out Brazilian knockout artist Renan Ferreira to become the new PFL heavyweight champion. What are your thoughts on Robelis Despaigne being cut from the UFC?