Cédric Doumbé is planning to fight former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in his next match, following his upcoming fight against Jaleel Willis at Bellator Paris.
Cédric Doumbé’s got his eyes on the prize. He’s got a big fight coming up.
This Friday, he’ll be stepping into the ring at Bellator Paris. It’s his first fight since a freak TKO loss due to a foot splinter in March. His opponent? Jaleel Willis, in the co-main event.
Willis has a lot of MMA experience, sure. But Doumbé, a former kickboxing champ, is already looking ahead. He’s got his sights set on another MMA veteran: Anthony Pettis, the former UFC lightweight champion.
Doumbé’s been dropping hints about fighting Pettis. He mentioned it several times on The MMA Hour on Wednesday. He even went as far as to say the matchup is almost official, pending a win over Willis.
“99 percent a done deal,” Doumbé said. “The next one… It’s gonna be in Saudi Arabia, pay-per-view. The Arabian crowd will be good. Welterweight. PFL.”
Pettis seems to be on board. He’s made it clear he expects to fight Doumbé next.
Pettis even told MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin he’ll be at Accor Arena. If Doumbé impresses against Willis, Pettis might just issue a challenge.
Pettis’ PFL run hasn’t been great, with just one win in five appearances. But he’s still a big name. “Showtime” was a star in the UFC and WEC, winning titles in both and establishing himself as one of MMA’s most exciting fighters.
Doumbé, on the other hand, is just starting his MMA career. He transitioned from kickboxing and knocked out his first five opponents before a bizarre loss to Baissangour Chamsoudinov. “Baki” won via TKO after Doumbé signaled to referee Marc Goddard about debris in his foot, leading to the fight being called off.
Doumbé says Chamsoudinov was offered a rematch but declined. He wants his win over Doumbé to stand.
“He’s running,” Doumbé said. “This is the only way he could win a fight against me. He will never, never, ever step into the cage in front of me again because he felt what he felt during the first round.”
Doumbé seems to be taking his first MMA loss in stride. He even jokingly agreed with Chamsoudinov’s logic for not pursuing a rematch.
“He’s happy,” Doumbé said. “If you make me fight Jon Jones and because of a splinter I win by TKO against Jon Jones, why do I have to take a rematch? I don’t want to. I beat Jon Jones. I’m the baddest motherf*cker on the planet. I beat Jon Jones. So that’s why he’s talking. He can only talk on Twitter, he can only talk on social media, because now he knows that on his record he can be the only guy who beat Cédric Doumbé.”