Jake Paul has confirmed he will fight former two-time kickboxing world champion Cedric Doumbe in a professional boxing match in Dubai on Christmas Eve.
The contest is a professionally sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight clash contested at 200lbs with 10oz gloves. It will be Paul's first fight in 12 months, following his sixth-round knockout loss to former two-time unified heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, in which the American suffered a broken jaw.
Doumbe, a 34-year-old Cameroon-born Frenchman, enters the ring after building a career as a two-time welterweight world champion kickboxer and later transitioning to mixed martial arts (MMA). Both fighters traded barbs as the Christmas Eve matchup in the United Arab Emirates was announced.
Jake Paul and Cedric Doumbe pre-fight comments
Speaking upon the announcement of his opponent, Paul pointed to a callout Doumbe made two years earlier after recording a rapid knockout win over Jordan Zebo in MMA.
"Cedric [Doumbe] was calling me out two years ago after knocking some dude [Zebo] out in nine seconds. Well, now you get your chance," Paul said.
"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," Paul added. "Just like [Oleksandr] Usyk feasted on Rico Verhoeven, I am going to eat you for dinner in Dubai on Christmas Eve."
Doumbe responded by referencing Paul's "Problem Child" ring nickname and the broken jaw Paul admitted suffering against Joshua.
"Jake Paul calls himself the Problem Child, but he's never faced a problem like me," Doumbe said. "Jake loves to talk, and so do I, but 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."
Cedric Doumbe kickboxing and MMA record
Before switching codes, Doumbe established himself as one of the leading stand-up strikers in the world during his time with the Glory kickboxing organisation. He won the welterweight world championship twice and compiled a professional kickboxing record of 75 wins, seven losses and one draw, including 45 knockouts.
He later switched to professional MMA, where he has recorded six knockout victories in his first seven bouts. His highest-profile win came in the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a US-based global MMA promotion, when he stopped Zebo in nine seconds in Paris in September 2023 in front of a cageside audience that included France football captain Kylian Mbappe.
Although Doumbe is best known for kickboxing and MMA, he has one prior appearance in professional boxing. He defeated Mohamed Fodil on points at the end of a four-round bout in 2015.
Jake Paul boxing record and previous fights
Paul first gained an international following as a content creator on the video platforms Vine and YouTube before making his professional boxing debut in 2020 and co-founding the promotional company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). He holds a professional record of 12 wins and two defeats, with seven of his victories coming by knockout.
His most recent outing against British star and London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Joshua, which streamed globally on Netflix in partnership with MVP, ended when Joshua stopped him in the sixth round and broke his jaw. Prior to that defeat, Paul had beaten former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson in 2024, when Tyson was 58 years old.
Paul's only other professional defeat came in 2023 against British cruiserweight Tommy Fury, the younger half-brother of former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. Because the Dubai matchup against Doumbe is sanctioned as a full professional contest at the standard 200lb cruiserweight limit with 10oz gloves, the result over eight scheduled rounds will be added to both men's official boxing records.
