It was far from pretty but Robelis Despaigne returned to the octagon at UFC 331 and pulled off a split decision win to beat Tai Tuivasa on the preliminary card.
The giant Cuban had fought, lost and was released from the UFC in the past but a stunning win over former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos got him invited back to the big show on Saturday. Despaigne didn’t exactly show marked improvements but he was able to score numerous takedowns and blast Tuivasa with some hard shots whenever
the heavyweights decided to throw down.
When it was over, the judges scored the fight 29-28 twice for Despaigne with the third official going 29-28 for Tuivasa, but that was still enough for the Cuban to get the win.
Like usual, Despaigne largely depended on his power and size to get the job done during the 15-minute fight. Despaigne scored several takedowns and then use his sheer size to overwhelm Tuivada on the canvas.
Despaigne did manage to land some hard shots on the ground and Tuivasa was left bleeding from the damage done.
In the end, Despaigne got the nod by split decision as he moves to 7-2 in his career while Tuivasa falls to 14-11 including his current eight fight losing streak in the UFC.
