Robelis Despaigne did not need a long Netflix introduction. He needed one clean heavyweight bomb.
Despaigne knocked out former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos at 2:59 of Round 1 at MVP MMA 1 inside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The finish gave Netflix’s first live MMA card a brutal heavyweight highlight and put Despaigne right back in the MMA conversation after his Karate Combat run.
Netflix Sports posted the finish below:
ROBELIS DESPAIGNE JUST SLEPT JUNIOR DOS SANTOS IN ROUND 1 🔥#RouseyCarano is LIVE now only on Netflix 👊 pic.twitter.com/07RpIS7wSQ
— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) May 17, 2026
The cageside angle made the shot look even cleaner:
THE CAGESIDE VIEW OF ROBELIS DESPAIGNE KNOCKING OUT JUNIOR DOS SANTOS 🔥#RouseyCarano LIVE now on Netflix pic.twitter.com/kNoNioMkTJ
— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) May 17, 2026
Despaigne entered the fight as the favorite, and the size difference looked ugly once the cage door shut. He walked forward with his hands wide, pressured dos Santos into exchanges, and forced the former champion to deal with an 84-inch reach from kicking range and boxing range.
Dos Santos had a few early answers. He landed a leg kick, tried a single-leg takedown, and briefly pushed forward behind his right hand. None of it slowed Despaigne for long. Once the Cuban heavyweight started landing straight shots and uppercuts, dos Santos was fighting downhill.
Despaigne Turns JDS Into A Netflix Highlight
The finish came after Despaigne hurt dos Santos and stayed patient instead of throwing himself out of position. He found the final right hand, cracked dos Santos clean, and the former UFC champion went out.
After the fight, Despaigne explained the finish through a Spanish translator.
“I saw him stumbling and he kicked me on the leg first, and I kept calm, and I saw him stumbling and that’s when I struck,” Despaigne said.
Then he aimed much higher. Despaigne thanked Karate Combat for helping him rebuild momentum, said he wants to keep fighting in MMA, and called out Francis Ngannou.
“Francis, let’s do it,” Despaigne said.
That is a massive swing, but it fits the moment. Ngannou is still one of the most dangerous heavyweight names in combat sports, and Despaigne just knocked out a former UFC champion on a Netflix card watched by a much broader audience than a standard fight-night broadcast.
Dos Santos came in with a career that still carries real weight. He won the UFC heavyweight title in 2011 and owns victories over Cain Velasquez, Stipe Miocic, Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cro Cop, Derrick Lewis, and Frank Mir. He also entered MVP MMA after winning under the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA banner, including a knockout of Alan Belcher and a second win over Werdum.
That history is why this result matters for Despaigne. He did not beat a random heavyweight name. He knocked out a former UFC champion on the same card built around Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, then used the microphone to push for the scariest heavyweight target available.
Despaigne’s background is already unusual. The Cuban heavyweight won a 2012 Olympic taekwondo bronze medal, went 1-2 in the UFC, and then rebuilt himself in Karate Combat. He won the Karate Combat heavyweight title by stopping Sam Alvey, and his run there included the kind of short knockouts that made promoters keep his number saved.
His MMA record now stands at 6-2, with all six wins by knockout. Before MVP MMA, his UFC stint started with an 18-second knockout of Josh Parisian at UFC 299, then cooled off with decision losses to Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Austen Lane. The questions about wrestling and pacing are not gone, but his power remains a huge problem.
For dos Santos, this is a rough setback. At 42, he is still respected, still experienced, and still dangerous enough to get big-name offers. But heavyweight damage has no nostalgia clause. Once Despaigne’s range and power started landing clean, the fight changed fast.
MVP MMA wanted a heavyweight moment on Netflix. Despaigne delivered one, then made the next conversation even louder by saying Ngannou’s name before the gloves were cold.
