MMA world reacts as HW prospect Robelis Despaigne suffers "fraud check" in career-first UFC St. Louis defeat

Ahead of his bout tonight, Robelis Despaigne was considered the next great terrifying force in the UFC heavyweight division. However, his outing against Waldo Cortes-Acosta was anything but the explosive performance he had and the fans had hoped for.

Despaigne lost a sluggish affair riddled with mistakes caused by his inexperience. He conceded a takedown a takedown in round one, before doing the same in the subsequent rounds, despite finding some pockets of offense on the feet. Ultimately, he lost a unanimous decision to an unranked foe at UFC St. Louis.

Naturally, this has caused many to reevaluate the Olympic taekwondo specialist's potential as a fighter. Reacting to the bout, former heavyweight contender Big Ben Rothwell took to X criticizing the UFC and said:

"Fights like that @ufc are what make the @bareknucklefc look good. LayNPray HW's, the worst".

At the same time, Ali Abdelaziz put out an interesting take saying:

"Everybody wanna be in the UFC kids make sure you're ready for the UFC"

A fan urged the Cuban knockout artist to join the American Top Team to improve his otherwise poor defensive wrestling.

"Time for Robelis Despaigne to take a trip to American Top Team"

Another fan, however, labeled Despaigne a fraud, exposed by Cortes-Acosta.

"Actual certified fraud check"

Others claimed that Despaigne's hype train had come to a disastrous halt.

"Hype Train: Derailed"

Some fans, however, expressed frustration with the apparent lack of traditional entertainment value in the fight.

"An absolute snooze fest"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions to Despaigne's loss

Where Despaigne goes from here is anyone's guess. However, at 35 years old, with his 36th birthday set for Aug. 6, he must make drastic improvements to his defensive wrestling, as time is not on his side.

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Robelis Despaigne has barely had any top-level MMA experience

Despite being an Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo, Robelis Despaigne only transitioned to MMA in 2022, just two years ago. He stormed through his first five opponents, knocking them all unconscious for a combined time of five minutes and 31 seconds, announcing himself as the latest heavyweight power-puncher.

Check out Robelis Despaigne's first-ever loss:

However, with just four professional fights under his belt, and one UFC fight before he clashed against Waldo Cortes-Acosta, the Cuban knockout artist was sorely lacking in experience and octagon time, and it showed in his loss tonight.