Robelis Despaigne interested in Francis Ngannou with MVP MMA 1 win

Robelis Despaigne sees big things in his future, quite literally, now that he's returned to MMA.

Despaigne (5-2), an Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo, is set to compete in his first MMA fight since departing from the UFC in 2024. The Cuban fighter fights former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos on the main card in the inaugural MMA event of Most Valuable Promotions, which takes place Saturday and streams live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. The card is being headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.

If successful against Dos Santos (21-10), Despaigne can see himself throwing down with the big man himself, Francis Ngannou, who also competes on the card against Philipe Lins.

"I do see the possibility," Despaigne told Habelmos MMA in Spanish. "At the beginning, it wasn't even something that crossed my mind, but over time, many people have asked about it. There are people talking about that potential fight, and me possibly facing Francis Ngannou after this fight. If I come out winning in this fight, and he wins his fight, I think it would be a great opportunity for me to let the world know who I am by fighting Francis Ngannou."

Despaigne signed only a one-fight deal with MVP. So far, there are no future scheduled MMA events with Netflix. However, Despaigne is here to stay and sees more MVP-Netflix events down the line.

"I don't know what's going to happen. We haven't talked about that," Despaigne said. "I don't know if there will be more events. I hope there will be. I think with all the attention this event has been getting, we'll see more events this year."

Should there be a fight with Ngannou, Despaigne would also throw the idea out there of upping the stakes.

"I think if we both win, we could fight each other, maybe with a belt on the line," Despaigne said. "That would be even better."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Robelis Despaigne interested in Francis Ngannou if victorious over JDS