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PFL Europe star is heating up
Cedric Doumbe is hoping to follow in the footsteps of UFC stars Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira by parlaying GLORY success into MMA fame and fortune. And he’s off to a pretty good start.
This past weekend Doumbe starched Jordan Zebo in just nine seconds in the main event of PFL Europe 3.
Doumbe then got on the mic and called out his former coach Fernand Lopez (who was in Zebo’s corner) for violence against women.
This prompted Lopez to respond, admitting he had served a four month sentence for domestic violence.
Cedric Doumbe says the UFC will rue the day they snubbed him
Cedric Doumbe was on The MMA Hour this week. During that appearance he discussed how he signed for PFL. The former GLORY welterweight champion also spoke about why he did not sign for the UFC.
“[The UFC] did what they did, they f***** up,” said Doumbe. “Now I’m part of the PFL. For me, the PFL is the future. They’re doing very great. We’ve got Francis [Ngannou] now. He’s part of the team. I’m part of the future. We are changing something, we are doing something great, so I didn’t even think about [the UFC].”
“I think I’m the best,” continued Doumbe. “[The UFC] lost something. No PFL earned something.”
Doumbe ended the discussion by assuring that they UFC will “regret” not signing him.
Cedric Doumbe to the UFC is a confusing saga
Six months ago a rumour emerged that Cedric Doumbe had signed for the UFC, so he could appear at UFC Paris: Gane vs. Tuivasa. However, the French MMA Federation reportedly nixed the match-up because of Doumbe only having two pro MMA bouts to his name (despite having over 80 pro kickboxing fights).
During this time Doumbe himself posted an image purporting to show a call coming in from UFC CEO Dana White. However, Doumbe would later deny stories that he had signed with the promotion.
“I know you all want to see me at UFC,” wrote Doumbe on Twitter. “I really want to make you happy, but the choice offered to me is really not easy and at 30 [years old] it will be the last choice of my life. It’s not easy!”
A month later it was announced that Doumbe had signed for the PFL.
Now one fight into his deal with his new company, Doumbe has already started calling his shots. Recently he said he hopes PFL will set up a fight between him and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis..
Opinion: PFL should fast track Doumbe at all costs
Exciting talents in MMA, those who both deliver on the canvas and on the mic and have an ability to weave narratives into their fights, are rare. The PFL has that in Cedric Doumbe. The worst thing they could do with him is give him another can to crush or put him into a long tournament/season format.
Cedric Doumbe vs. Anthony Pettis would be a thrilling fight and it’s exactly the kind of booking they need to do with the 31-year-old. They have the Zebo KO footage now, they don’t need to show us anything else, just get this man in there with big names who can draw an audience.
The PFL’s cupboard is pretty bare when it comes to in-house opponents at 170 lbs. So they should be hand picking some well known fighters to showcase Doumbe and maximize the earning potential of their star in the making.
Pettis is a great next step. But after that why not former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley or soon to be Bellator refugees Michael Page and Douglas Lima? Heck, I’m sure Mike Perry would be down.
Unfortunately for PFL, to make the most out of Doumbe they are going to need to invest in further roster improvements. If all we see of the French striker is him folding nobodies in Europe or being wrestle-mugged in a momentum killing PFL season, this would have to go down as an epic fail for PFL (who are facing a similar conundrum with their Francis Ngannou experiment).
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