Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis Despaigne Odds
| Tuivasa Odds | +410 |
| Despaigne Odds | -550 |
| Over/Under | 1.5 (+210/-280) |
| Location | Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California |
| Bout Time | 8:15 p.m. ET |
| TV/Streaming | Paramount+ |
| UFC 331 odds as of Friday and via DraftKings. Bet on UFC 331 with our DraftKings promo code. | |
Check out the Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis Despaigne prediction for UFC 331 on Saturday, September 19, along with my betting preview and breakdown.
Here's my Tuivasa vs. Despaigne pick and prediction.
Tale of the Tape
| Tuivasa | Despaigne | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 15-10 | 6-2 |
| Avg. Fight Time | 8:06 | 10:06 |
| Height | 6'2" | 6'7" |
| Weight (pounds) | 264 lbs. | 265 lbs. |
| Reach (inches) | 75" | 84" |
| Stance | Southpaw | Orthodox |
| Date of birth | 03/16/1993 | 08/09/1988 |
| Sig Strikes Per Min | 3.37 | 2.11 |
| SS Accuracy | 48% | 59% |
| SS Absorbed Per Min | 4.61 | 2.54 |
| SS Defense | 42% | 46% |
| Take Down Avg | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| TD Acc | 0% | 0% |
| TD Def | 58% | 50% |
| Submission Avg | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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Tuivasa vs. Despaigne Pick, Prediction
Tai Tuivasa has the chance to join a special club on Saturday, though he'll be hoping to avoid it. His current seven-fight losing streak is one shy of the longest in UFC history, a dishonor shared by Tony Ferguson and Sam Alvey. He's heavily favored to do so, going off as more than a four-to-one underdog against the resigned Robelis Despaigne.
The streak began with a surprisingly close loss to Ciryl Gane but has progressed to outright embarrassing performances, with Tuivasa generally showing up out of shape and hoping to land an early bomb, before quickly gassing out when that plan doesn't come to fruition. He remains on the roster due to his well-deserved popularity, but this is likely his last shot to get back in the win column.
To his credit, he's moved camps to American Top Team for this fight, which is not only one of the sport's best gyms but also has a wrestling-heavy style that could pay dividends for Tuivasa in this matchup.
His opponent, Robelis Despaigne, was initially cut from the UFC after going 1-2 in 2024. The former Olympic Taekwondo medalist is one of the scariest strikers we've seen at heavyweight in a long time, but is also an extremely limited MMA fighter.
He looked hopeless on the ground in losses to Waldo Cortes Acosta and Austen Lane, two fighters who have landed more takedowns on Despaigne than the rest of their UFC careers combined. Of course, Tuivasa has never landed a takedown in the UFC.
Despaigne went to Karate Combat following his UFC run and excelled in the striking-only sport, winning their heavyweight title against the aforementioned Sam Alvey. Then, he defeated 42-year-old Junior Dos Santos on the MVP on Netflix card, and was positioned well to face Francis Ngannou in the new promotion's follow-up effort.
The UFC resigned him more to keep him away from Jake Paul and company than because they want to promote the 38-year-old, but are at least giving him a very friendly opening matchup.
The potential to grapple might be the only saving grace for "Bam Bam" in this matchup, and it's a pretty thin bet. Still, the move to ATT should help him in that regard. I have my concerns about Tuivasa pulling off multiple rounds of wrestling, though, so I'd rather take a flier on him to land a single takedown at +500 odds.
His chances of winning a fight without a takedown are much lower than his chances of getting a takedown and losing, so it's notable that we're getting a better price on the takedown prop.
Billy's Picks:
- Tai Tuivasa Over 0.5 Takedowns +500
