Robelis Despaigne delivered another highlight-reel knockout, but this time, he was rewarded with gold around his waist.
The heavy-hitting Cuban fighter faced fellow UFC veteran Sam Alvey in the main event of Friday night’s Karate Combat 58 event in Miami. While Alvey fought valiantly, Despaigne was too big and powerful, landing a brutal head kick knockout in the second round to become the Karate Combat heavyweight champion.
Check out the finish below.
Despaigne was picking his shots early, landing pretty much every strike he threw — kicks to the head, body, and legs of Alvey. As Despaigne stocked forward and landing a shot at a time, Alvey attempted to get more movement going, even tired to get some grappling going at the end of the first round and was able to survive the opening stanza.
At the start of the second, Despaigne landed a big shot, but Alvey started to shift momentum. Despaigne ended up dropping Alvey with a brutal right hand, and Alvey stumbled to the ramp and the fight should’ve been stopped. The referee allowed it to continue for Despaigne to drop Alvey again, and the referee still let it go. Finally, the vicious ending to the fight came with another nasty, and probably unnecessary knockdown that put a stop to the bout.
Despaigne is now 6-0 in the Karate Combat pit, while Alvey loses for the first time in the promotion.
