The Man the UFC Fumbled, Cédric Doumbé.

Cédric’s first big achievement in his fighting career happened in 2016 when he won the A1 World Grand Prix Tournament at 75kg. Soon after in December 2016, he would fight Kickboxing legend Nieky Holzken for the GLORY Welterweight Title. He beat Holzken by a split-decision at GLORY 36, defended his title twice then lost it in another split-decision bout Murthel Groenhart at GLORY 44.

Doumbé then picked up another win and was scheduled to rematch Groenhart. The bout was scheduled four separate times, with the first three being canceled due to an elbow injury Doumbé had, and Covid 19 complications. Finally, the fight went ahead at GLORY 77, with Doumbé winning by an overhand right KO in the 2nd round. Cédric ended his Kickboxing career with a record of 75-7-1.

Doumbé announced his official retirement from Kickboxing and switch to MMA on October 3rd, 2021, and vacated his GLORY belt. He made his MMA debut on November 11th, 2021 at SuperKombat Universe, winning via round 1 KO. Since then he has gone 5-0 with a 100% finish rate, having 4 KOs and 1 Doctor’s Stoppage. After 4 professional fights, Doumbé was ready to sign with a major MMA organization. He chose to sign with the PFL because the UFC had sent him a low-ball offer. Which ended up working against them.

Cédric To The PFL:

On September 30th, 2023, Cédric made his PFL debut. As the main event of PFL Europe: Paris, against another French man, Jordan Zébo. Doumbé walked out to the fight holding a mattress with his opponent’s name on it. Then, before the face-off, Doumbé had the crowd chanting “Jordan, you’re dead” in French. The bout started and Cédric knocks Jordan out cold, cementing himself to the world as a star. Recently, the announcement tweet Cédric made for his next fight has gained more likes than every one of Dana White’s UFC 300-related tweets combined! Safe to say the UFC is regretting their decision.

Cédric Doumbé is an incredibly popular fighter and a star for the PFL. His trajectory seems likely to only going up. Doumbé is headlining the next upcoming PFL Paris card on March 7th against Baissangour Chamsoudinov. His return is looking to make an exciting one, make sure to tune in.