BoxingUAE

Jake Paul Plans To Feast on Kickboxing Legend in Christmas Eve Fight, Invoking Rico Verhoeven

Jake Paul takes aim at Cedric Doumbe ahead of their Christmas Eve fight in Dubai, invoking Rico Verhoeven

Kishore R
Kishore R
7 Min Read
Jake Paul vs. Cedric Doumbe set for December
Jake Paul vs. Cedric Doumbe set for Christmas Eve
by Kishore R

Despite walking away from his fight with former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua last year with two titanium plates and several teeth rearranged, Jake Paul has mapped out his return to the squared circle.

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The MVP co-founder confirmed Monday that he will face PFL fighter and kickboxing star Cedric Doumbe on December 24. The Christmas Eve showdown will take place at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

The Cameroonian-born French Doumbe is currently fighting in the welterweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). PFL was acquired by MVP in July, making Paul and Doumbe part of the same stable.

It didn’t stop Paul who wasted little time getting under his opponent’s skin. This time, he’s going with a sly Rico Verhoeven anecdote.

“He’s Going to Get Punished” – Jake Paul Turns Up the Heat After Christmas Fight Announcement 

For a while, Darren Till looked like a potential opponent for Paul’s return to the ring. Instead, the Problem Child has gone in a different direction, lining up a matchup with an accomplished kickboxing champion who wasn’t on the radar for his December comeback.

Paul will face former two-time GLORY Kickboxing champion Doumbe in his first professional fight in Dubai. The eight-round cruiserweight bout will be contested with 10-ounce gloves, with Doumbe bringing a 75-7-1 kickboxing record with 45 knockouts, a 6-1 MMA record with six knockouts, and a 1-0 record in boxing.

The event comes together through a partnership between Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), Dubai Sports Council, and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. It builds on the city’s existing relationship with PFL while marking another step in MVP’s global expansion following its merger with the MMA promotion.

With the fighters scheduled to meet the media in Paris on November 10, followed by ticket sales opening on November 15, Paul wasted little time making his intentions clear. The American came out swinging with a vicious verbal attack on his newly announced opponent.

“Cedric D*****bag was calling me out two years ago after knocking some dude out in 9 seconds,” the 29-year-old lambasted. “Well d*****bag, now you get your chance. 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.

For the unversed, Paul was referring to the 34-year-old’s nine-second knockout of Jordan Zebo at PFL Europe 3 in September 2023, a performance that helped put the French-Cameroonian fighter on the map in MMA. Following the bout, he called our Paul, insisting that he deserves a bigger payday. Two years later, his wish has finally come true. 

He even brought Oleksandr Usyk’s recent crossover bout with Rico Verhoeven into the conversation. The Ukrainian defeated the Dutch kickboxing champion in Verhoeven’s professional boxing debut, giving Paul the perfect comparison for his latest warning.

“Just like Usyk feasted on Rico Verhoeven, I am going to eat you for dinner in Dubai on Christmas Eve and have a Coca-Cola at the arena to celebrate. You like to talk a lot, so let’s see what you have to say in person at the press conferences next week in Paris and Dubai.

“To the proud people of France, excuse-moi for what I am about to do, but your son has been naughty and he’s going to get punished. To all the fans in Dubai and across MENA, we’re doing this big, just like Dubai always does. I’m baaaaaccccccccck,” Paul added.

Paul currently holds a 12-2 professional boxing record, with both defeats coming against British opponents, most recently in his knockout loss to Joshua in 2025.

For Doumbe, this will be just his second professional boxing bout. The former kickboxing champion has also pursued MMA at PFL, where he has picked up two wins in three welterweight appearances.

Doumbe Vows to Finish What Joshua Started 

While the YouTuber-turned-boxer is busy building hype for his latest fight, the American is once again chasing the kind of blockbuster attention that followed his clashes with Mike Tyson and Joshua. 

Those two events drew a combined global audience of 141 million viewers, giving the YouTuber-turned-boxer another massive platform to sell his next outing. Doumbe, however, isn’t concerned with the spectacle surrounding his opponent. He believes Paul has yet to encounter what a Frenchman can bring to the ring and isn’t buying into the “Problem Child” persona.

Doumbe even took a shot at Paul’s jaw injury from the Joshua fight, suggesting there might not be much left for his opponent to say.

“After what Joshua did to his jaw, I’m not sure how much talking he has left.” Doumbe made his intentions for Christmas Eve clear, saying, “I’m going to finish the job Joshua started.”

The Frenchman also promised to make the fight personal, vowing to celebrate with the French flag flying over Paul after their December 24 showdown in Dubai.

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ByKishore R
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Kishore R is a boxing journalist at NYFights with over three years of experience in sports journalism, having penned more than 2,500 articles. His love for the sweet science began when highlights of the 1989 Fight of the Year clash between Roberto Durán and Iran Barkley first caught his eye, an introduction that left him permanently hooked on the sport’s controlled violence. While boxing remains his first love, Kishore is deeply passionate about MMA, which he has covered extensively during his time at The SportsRush and MMA Sucka. A devoted student of combat sports for nearly a decade and a half, he brings an advanced understanding of technical nuance and pairs it with a strong instinct for storytelling. “Manos de Piedra,” Marvin Hagler, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Frazier, and Gennadiy Golovkin rank among his favorite fighters. Given the choice to travel to any era, he would gladly return to the 1980s, when “The Four Kings” defined boxing through technical brilliance and timeless rivalries.

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