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Jake Paul Picks a Kickboxing Champ for His Comeback: Cédric Doumbé, Christmas Eve in Dubai

A year after Anthony Joshua broke his jaw, Jake Paul is back, and his opponent is a two-time GLORY kickboxing champion with a famous nine-second knockout. The catch: it’s a boxing match.

By

Mike Wayne

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Jake Paul in close-up, blond curly hair and red beard, outdoors

Photo by Erik Drost, cropped (CC BY)

The Lowdown

Jake Paul has his comeback fight, and he didn’t pick an easy name. Most Valuable Promotions announced Monday morning that Paul will box Cédric Doumbé, the French two-time GLORY kickboxing world champion, on Thursday, Dec. 24, at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai (MVP) (ESPN). It’s Paul’s first fight since Anthony Joshua broke his jaw last December (BBC Sport). Doumbé has been calling Paul out for about two years. Now he gets him, under boxing rules, on Christmas Eve.

Key Takeaways

  • Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) faces Cédric Doumbé on Dec. 24 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, in a sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight bout at 200 pounds with 10-ounce gloves (MVP).
  • It’s Paul’s first fight since his December 2025 loss to Anthony Joshua, which left him with a broken jaw that needed surgery (BBC Sport) (ESPN).
  • Doumbé is 75-7-1 as a kickboxer and 6-1 in MMA, but he has only one pro boxing fight, from 2015 (MVP) (ESPN).
  • Press conferences are set for Nov. 10 in Paris and Nov. 12 in Dubai, both free and open to the public. Tickets go on sale Nov. 15 (MVP).

Who Is Cédric Doumbé?

If you don’t follow European combat sports, here’s the quick version. Doumbé was born in Cameroon and raised in France, and he won GLORY’s welterweight kickboxing title twice (MVP). Then he moved to MMA, where he’s 6-1 with all six wins by knockout (ESPN). The one everybody remembers came in his PFL debut in Paris in September 2023, when he dropped Jordan Zebo in nine seconds with Kylian Mbappé watching from the crowd (MVP) (The National). He’s won two of his three PFL fights since (BBC Sport).

He’s also a natural fit for the business side. Doumbé is signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Paul’s company, MVP, merged with PFL in July (BBC Sport). So this is an in-house matchup, built for two big social followings. The event comes out of a deal between MVP, the Dubai Sports Council and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (MVP) (Gulf News).

Paul, for his part, has spent most of the year recovering. The Joshua loss broke his jaw, and the BBC reports he needed two titanium plates (BBC Sport). MVP first said on Oct. 29 that he’d return on Christmas Eve in Dubai, without naming an opponent (MVP).

The trash talk started on day one. In MVP’s announcement, Paul gave Doumbé a not-so-subtle nickname and then got weirdly honest: “I’m rusty, my jaw is janky and I don’t have kickboxing world titles like you do. But guess what, this isn’t kickboxing mon ami. This is BOXING” (MVP). Doumbé went straight for the jaw: “After what Joshua did to his jaw, I’m not sure how much talking he has left. I’m going to finish the job Joshua started” (MVP).

What People Are Saying

Fight Twitter had opinions within minutes. MMA Fighting summed up the first round of insults:

A lot of fans went right after the matchmaking, pointing out that Paul is facing a smaller striker who’s barely boxed.

Others pushed back with the old argument that if Paul really isn’t a “real boxer,” then a YouTuber fighting a world-class kickboxer should be the dangerous one for Paul. One account put it bluntly.

Our Take: Smart Business, Fair Questions

This is classic Jake Paul matchmaking. The opponent has real credentials, a highlight-reel knockout and a loud mouth, and he’s never had a real pro boxing career. That’s not a knock on Doumbé, who is a legit striker. It’s just the formula that got Paul wins over Woodley, Silva and Diaz. After what happened against Joshua, we never really expected his comeback to be against another heavyweight boxer.

The size point is fair too. Doumbé won his kickboxing titles at welterweight, and this fight is at 200 pounds (MVP). Paul admitting his jaw is “janky” is funny, but it’s also the most interesting storyline here. If Doumbé lands clean early, nobody’s going to be talking about matchmaking. And the Paris press conference, in Doumbé’s backyard, could honestly be better TV than the fight.

The Background

Paul is 12-2 as a pro, with his only losses coming against Tommy Fury and Joshua (BBC Sport). His biggest win came over Mike Tyson in November 2024 on Netflix (MVP). His older brother, Logan Paul, is a WWE star. Global distribution for the Dubai card and the rest of the bouts haven’t been announced yet (MVP). Our photo of Paul is from August 2023.

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Jake Paul

Jake Paul

Boxer · YouTuber

Jake Paul is an American professional boxer, YouTuber and promoter. He co-founded Most Valuable Promotions and has fought Mike Tyson, Nate Diaz and Anthony Joshua.

Logan Paul

Logan Paul

Professional Wrestler · Actor

American professional wrestler Logan Paul competes for WWE.

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