UFC 299 Odds, Pick & Prediction for Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian: +1300 Fade of Taekwondo Olympian (Saturday, March 9)

Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian Odds

Here's everything you need to know about the Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian odds at UFC 299 – with our expert pick and prediction for Saturday, March 9.

The list of Olympic medalists in the UFC will officially get longer on Saturday at UFC 299.

Cuban bronze medalist Robelis Despaigne is making his UFC debut against veteran Josh Parisian in an undercard heavyweight bout.

Despaigne will become the first taekwondo medalist to compete at the highest stage of MMA. There's a reason for that, as the sport is not traditionally thought of as a solid base for MMA.

We'll dive into the reasons why below, discuss some notable fighters with a similar taekwondo background, and see how it all ties into his upcoming matchup against Parisian on the ESPN+ prelims.

Tale of the Tape

To anyone familiar with combat sports, it's no surprise that freestyle wrestling and judo have produced the most UFC (and other high-level MMA) fighters among Olympic sports. As the name implies, freestyle wrestling allows the greatest variety of takedowns of all the grappling arts – an obviously important skill set for mixed martial arts.

Notable Olympic medalists in freestyle to make it to the UFC include Henry Cejudo (gold) Sara McMann (silver) and Yoel Romero (bronze), plus non-medalist competitors including former UFC champions Daniel Cormier and Randy Couture.

Greco-Roman wrestling is a bit more restrictive in the allowable techniques, featuring only upper-body takedowns – so no single- or double-leg shots. Given that the latter are the most commonly utilized takedowns in MMA, it makes sense that the style doesn't translate as well. Still, Mark Madsen, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson (among others) were Olympians in the discipline.

The other prominent Olympic sport in the UFC is judo.

Judo has similar restrictions on takedowns as Greco while also competing in the gi. However, Judo matches continue on the ground with brief periods of submission fighting, making it a solid MMA base.

Unlike jiu-jitsu, in judo fighters can win by "pin" from side control or mount, which places a heavy emphasis on establishing and maintaining top position.

WMMA standouts Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison both medaled in the sport, but there are plenty of examples around the MMA world.

What Is Taekwondo?

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that emphasizes fast, snapping kicks. As a martial art, it includes plenty of hand-striking techniques, as well as kicks to all three levels (leg, body, head) of the opponent.

However, as a sport, TKD has some failings. The biggest is that hand strikes (punches) to the head aren't allowed in competition. Nor are leg kicks, for that matter.

Not only do taekwondo athletes not spend much time learning those attacks, but they also don't have to defend them. With those being the most common attacks in MMA, that's a huge disadvantage.

Taekwondo fights are also scored based on points, which a fighter earns by any allowable technique touching the opponent, regardless of force.

In fact, fighters can be penalized for "excessive force" on their strikes.

On top of that, the match is paused when a scoring technique lands, so the focus is on landing one single strike rather than throwing (or defending) combinations.

The lack of grappling is also a major hindrance, especially when combined with the traditional stance and reliance on jumping and spinning techniques.

Those qualities of the art invite takedowns at a high rate – while there's no time spent learning offensive or defensive grappling techniques.

Notable Taekwondo Fighters in UFC and MMA

With all that said, there's still a large number of MMA fighters with a background in taekwondo. Most of them also trained extensively in a grappling art – usually Brazilian jiu-jitsu – as a supplement.

Champions such as Anderson Silva, Yair Rodriguez and both Pettis brothers consider TKD their foundational art.

Of course, all of those fighters combine that with dangerous submission games from their backs, which offsets the risk of being taken down by their opponents.

As far as I know, Despaigne doesn't hold a rank in BJJ, and he's been training for MMA for only around four years.

That puts him at a huge disadvantage on the ground against even lower-level fighters like Saturday's UFC 299 opponent, Parisian.

Parisian holds a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under Scorpion Fighting Systems founder James Gray, and he's been competing in MMA for around 15 years at this point.

Despaigne vs. Parisian Pick

What was left unsaid in all of the stylistic analysis here is the massive physical advantages Despaigne has. His 87-inch reach will be the longest in UFC history when he makes his debut, and he's stronger, faster, and generally far more athletic than Parisian.

He also clearly has massive power, as evidenced by his four first-round knockouts in regional promotions.

Still, those were carefully picked opponents, and only had previous MMA experience (at 1-0) before fighting Despaigne.

Most were former boxers and kickboxers willing to play "Big Boy's" game with him – not long-time MMA fighters trying to pick up a win.

While it won't be easy getting there, it seems pretty likely that one takedown would be enough for Parisian to get a win given his extensive experience. I don't see Parisian surviving 15 minutes, but he can get it done on the canvas.

Parisian might not prove to be the one to expose the flaws in Despaigne's style, but he has a far better chance than the market suggests.

Given the long odds, I'm taking a sprinkle on Josh Parisian by submission at +1300 on BetRivers.

The Pick: Josh Parisian by submission (+1300 at BetRivers)

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