Cedric Doumbe doubts he opens door to UFC ever again: ‘I’m better here’

Cédric Doumbé is raring to make his second PFL look.

The previous GLORY welterweight champion lived as much as his hype in September when he debuted for the promotion with a spectacular nine-second knockout of Jordan Zebo that ignited a raucous scene amongst his French countrymen at PFL Europe 3. Doumbé is now set to face undefeated prospect Baissangour Chamsoudinov on March 7 in the principle occasion of one other PFL Europe card in Paris, and he has excessive expectations for his follow-up act.

“He has a fairly good fan base in France,” Doumbé stated Wednesday on The MMA Hour.

“Folks, they’re speaking numerous s*** about [him winning] as a result of he seems to be like a wrestler. He’s [originally] from Chechnya, he seems to be like a wrestler, and no person [has been able to] take me down. They usually suppose he’s the man, as they thought Jordan was the man. So now they suppose he’s the man, however I’ll present the identical — first-round knockout — and they’ll discover one other man who is meant to be the man, that man. And it’s the identical s***, completely different day.”

Doumbé, 31, is mostly thought of to be one of many high welterweight prospects in MMA.

His debut PFL look immediately grew to become one of the talked about debuts of 2023. Identified for his aptitude for the dramatics, Doumbé marched out with a mattress for his opponent, led the gang — and French soccer famous person Kylian Mbappe — in a thunderous chant, then put Zebo to sleep in mere seconds with a monstrous left hand.

It was an eye-opening efficiency in entrance of a sold-out crowd of greater than 7,000 followers on the Zénith Paris, and Doumbé already upped the ante for his sophomore outing — the Frenchman stated his subsequent struggle offered out practically 20,000 seats for the Accor Enviornment in simply 20 minutes. For the embellished kickboxer, it’s additional validation that he made the correct transfer by signing with PFL after initially anticipating to hitch the UFC in 2022. Doumbé’s octagon debut fell by means of on account of a medical challenge and he was finally launched from his contract.

Lower than two years later, he has no regrets.

“That makes me smile as a result of they f***** up,” Doumbé stated of the UFC. “They f***** up. However I didn’t lose something. They misplaced. So it’s what it’s, you understand? All the things occurs for a purpose.

“I’m simply doing my factor. I do know I might do the identical — possibly even higher, possibly much less — in UFC, however I’m simply doing my factor. Some folks say that, ‘You’ll by no means have completed that [walkout] with the mattress in UFC, they’ll by no means allow you to do that,’ so I’m higher right here.”

With greater than 80 kickboxing fights to his identify, Doumbé is aware of he’s no spring rooster in the case of his future in fight sports activities. Whereas he’s nonetheless on the peak of his powers, he doesn’t count on to struggle into his late thirties. Due to that, he’s focusing all of his vitality into his partnership with PFL and doubts he ever opens the door to the UFC once more.

“We by no means know for tomorrow, however I feel 90 % no,” Doumbé stated. “Ninety % no, as a result of I’m not 20, I’m not 21. I’m not that youthful fighter. So I feel I’m extra near the tip than the start, so I feel I cannot open the UFC door once more. However we by no means know.”

Doumbé already has grand plans for his subsequent step after March 7. As soon as he wins, he expects his subsequent opponent to be former UFC champion Anthony Pettis. He’s assured he might someday promote out France’s Parc des Princes, the huge stadium that home soccer membership Paris Saint-Germain.

First, nevertheless, he should get by Chamsoudinov. The 22-year-old native Chechen is an ideal 8-0 in his younger MMA profession and picked up a second-round knockout of UFC veteran Efrain Escudero in his most up-to-date look.

“He’s higher than Jordan,” Doumbé stated. “He’s bought superb judo. He’s from judo, he’s a judoka. However even his wrestling just isn’t sufficient to impress me. I feel even on the bottom, the grappling, I’m higher than him. However no person is aware of [because] you haven’t seen it but.

“Plenty of his followers, they suppose he’s the man. However even Jordan, all people thought that will be the man who’s going to show me, but it surely’s at all times the identical.”