Robelis Despaigne has spent 16 total seconds in action inside the Karate Combat pit, enough time to knock out Dominik Jedrzejczyk and Marcos Brigagao, but his upcoming opponent isn’t all that impressed.
Roggers Souza, a former heavyweight MMA champion in Brazil and Russia with 23 bouts under his belt, was signed as Despaigne’s third opponent under the Karate Combat banner for Friday’s show in Denver, and admits he was surprised by the offer. That said, he doesn’t think much of Despaigne’s striking despite the Cuban’s Olympic bronze medal in taekwondo and multiple lightning-quick knockouts in MMA.
“Not taking anything away from my opponent, he does have a huge knockout power, but he’s not good at MMA,” Souza told MMA Fighting. “He was fighting for the world’s biggest organization and got fired. He got beat up there, and he’s unfit for MMA. He’s sloppy with his striking on the feet. Like I said, his knockout power is impressive, but I’ve fought favorites before and I’m not surprised. I know I have what it takes to beat this guy.”
So far, Despaigne’s “sloppy” striking has earned him two quick victories at Karate Combat. However, Souza highlights the fact his first opponent Jedrzejczyk was 0-1 and his second opponent Brigagao “is a grappler in MMA.” Although Souza himself is a black belt in jiu-jitsu, which helped him defeat 19-2 Russian talent Sergey Dyakonov to win an MMA Global Series title in Dubai, he’s confident he has better striking than Despaigne.
“I’ll quote my friend Vitor Petrino: ‘[Despaigne] has 30 seconds,’” Santos said. “When those 30 seconds are up… I’m used to fighting three five-minute rounds, so I can take it. I won’t do an ugly fight because I like to brawl, and I think we give our all in there.”
The 35-year-old knows he’s late in his career, but facing a hyped athlete in Despaigne can open doors. Souza moved back to his hometown of Parauapebas and began working as a corporate driver, but paused it to resume training for Karate Combat.
“Renato Moicano once said he fights because he doesn’t like to work,” Souza laughed. “I’ve had my chance fighting for big organizations. Right now, training for fights is a high investment for me. I’ll turn 36 soon, but I’ll always jump on the opportunities.
“I had big shots before against Ciryl Gane and Sergei Kharitonov, and those were two learning experiences I had in MMA. I believe that a win over this guy will be great for my career.”