“Big Boy” has a new home.
Two weeks ago, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Robelis Despaigne was released after his loss to Austen Lane at UFC Vegas 99, which took place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was his second consecutive loss, and it was another stinker of a fight.
Today (Mon. Nov. 11, 2025), Karate Combat announced on its Instagram that Despaigne has signed with their promotion.
“We’ve signed Robelis Despaigne to our heavyweight division and he will be debuting at KC51.
Robelis has an insane track record with all his professional fights ending with a first round KO and with Robelis being a taekwondo Olympic Medalist winner he will surely bring something to the pit we havn’t seen before
Welcome Robelis, we’re excited to have you in KC”
While Despaigne was ultra disappointing inside the Octagon other than his UFC debut at UFC 299, there is still talent there. His signing with Karate Combat makes all the sense in the world, and he will thrive there, no doubt. Expect more viral knockouts (like this one).
“Big Boy” has no opponent yet but will debut at Karate Combat 51 in December.
Wicked signing.
Fighting Alvey???
Great job KC
I really hate the hyperbole of this type of writing. Say that about baseball or basketball players. He’s a fighter and a damn good one. Fighting is harder than any other sport and you get one winner and one loser. You can’t blame it on your teammates, you can’t call timeout or a sub to come in for you. Every fighter has ups and downs ( more accurately, most fighters have way more downs than ups). Fighters face big consequences and as a necessity, fight less than others athletes play games. Fighting is not a game. Go Big Boy.
Thats a great signing for them. Great fit.