‘Sh*ttiest Fight Of The Night’

UFC St. Louis took place last Sat. night (May 11, 2024) inside Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Alonzo Menifield, who was knocked out by Carlos Ulberg in just 12 seconds (see it again here).

And Terrance McKinney, who was also stopped in the very first round, though his loss took 37 seconds to be finalized. And let’s not forget about Rodrigo Nascimento, who was knocked out by Derrick Lewis in the main event (see it here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Robelis Despaigne.

Coming into the promotion’s return to the “Show-Me State,” Despaigne’s reputation of being a knockout artist was already established after scoring five straight first-round finishes to start his career in a little under two years. Even his UFC debut put the Heavyweight division on notice, starching Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds at UFC 299.

His sophomore effort, however, left a lot to be desired. For 15 minutes, the Cuban-born Olympic bronze medalist looked like a novice inside the Octagon, having absolutely no answer for Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s grappling. On the feet, his striking simply wasn’t up to par. When the early knockout didn’t come, he had to put together a plan to get him through the first frame and beyond.

It never came.

Cortes-Acosta eventually did enough to secure a unanimous decision win, but he will not get away so easily, either, because “Salsa Boy’s” performance was underwhelming, at least to UFC CEO, Dana White.

“He won, but if you had to pick [out of] all the fights on the card, and you open the show heading into the [main card when] we’re live on ESPN, you’re opening the show [means] it’s your time to shine and show everybody who you are and that’s your performance? I don’t know,” said White during the UFC St. Louis post-fight press conference.

“If you go through the card and I was going to give out a bonus for s****** fight of the night, who would you guys give it to? Yeah, everybody’s in agreement [that it’s Cortes-Acosta vs. Despaigne].”

But we’ve seen this before: a contender coming through and earning quick wins that instantly polarize the fans. The first fighter that comes to mind is Houston Alexander, who started off his UFC career with back-to-back first-round knockout wins in 2007, prompting fans to scream future title contender. “The Assassin” then went on to lose his next four fights inside the Octagon and his time in the spotlight came to an end as quickly as it began.

Now, we wait to see just how Despaigne reacts to the loss (and criticism) in his next fight. But let’s make it clear, he has a lot of work to do if he wants to be a real contender in a division filled with heavy hitters and established veterans who have put in the work. But at 35 years of age and starting his MMA career pretty late by combat sport standards, it’s hard to feel optimistic.

For more UFC St. Louis results and fallout click here.