Cédric Doumbé Bounces Back with Impressive First-Round Knockout at Bellator Paris.
Doumbe proved his pre-fight trash talk was more than just hype. He vowed to feed Jaleel Willis a diet of straight shots from Cameroon, and he made good on that promise.
In a dominant performance, Cédric Doumbé made a statement at Bellator Paris, dispatching Jaleel Willis with a first-round knockout in the 175-pound co-main event.
This victory marked a successful return to the cage for the Cameroon-native sensation, following a controversial loss to Baissangour Chamsoudinov in March that saw Doumbé suffer the first loss of his professional MMA career when debris embedded itself in his left foot and referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout midway through a competitive third round.
Doumbé, 31, made it look easy against Willis (16-6), knocking down the former LFA champion and seven-time Bellator veteran with a right hand early in opening round before dropping him again with another picture-perfect right hook several minutes later and swarming with punches for the finish. The official time of the stoppage was 3:33 of Round 1. Willis has now lost back-to-back bouts via first-round knockouts.
Watch footage of Doumbé’s handiwork below.
Post-fight, Doumbé and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis engaged in a heated face-off, with Pettis calling for a showdown in Paris. Doumbé, never one to back down, embraced the challenge.
“Fighting me in another country, that’s murder, that’s insane. But fighting me in Paris? This guy is crazy,” Doumbé said after leading the crowd in a call-and-response against Pettis.
