Battle of the Beasts: Sam Alvey defends Karate Combat title against scary knockout artist Robelis Despaigne on Dec. 5

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran and reigning Karate Combat Heavyweight champion (seriously), Sam Alvey, will defend his belt against fellow UFC alum and knockout artist extraordinaire, Robelis Despaigne, in Karate Combat 58’s main event this weekend (Fri., Dec. 5, 2025) in Miami, Florida.

Alvey competed just once this year, but it was a memorable one.

Indeed, “Smilin’ Sam” shocked the odds, knocking out kickboxing legend, Tyrone Spong, in the second round as a +335 underdog to retain his title for the second time (watch highlights). He originally captured the belt by defeating Ross Levine and has since revived his career inside KC’s Pit, going 4-0-1 with three knockouts since his UFC release following an eight-fight losing skid.

Despaigne, like Alvey, washed out of UFC after a 1-2 run, but has become a monster under Karate Combat’s ruleset. “Big Boy” knocked out his first three KC opponents in a combined 30 seconds, then punched his ticket to a title shot by winning a one-night Heavyweight tournament that saw him finish Saulo Cavalari, Tim Johnson and Zac Pauga (watch highlights).

In addition to the mega Heavyweight title fight, a few other fun matchups were announced:

Oussama Assli vs. James Honey – Welterweight title fight
Chris Barnett vs. Johnathan Miller
Lorenz Larkin vs. Vanilto Antunes
Jayden Eynaud vs. Rafael Carvalho
Oscar Remihana vs. Brandon Jenkins
Namo Fazil vs. Guilherme Teixeira
Erko Jun vs. Monte Deon Ogbonna
Debora Evora vs. Erica Santos
Claudio Ribeiro vs. Sergey Ponomarev