{"id":1714,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1714","headline":"Jake Paul to fight Cédric Doumbé in Dubai on Christmas Eve","dek":"The bout marks Paul's first fight since Anthony Joshua broke his jaw last December.","body":"Jake Paul has his next opponent, and it's not another faded MMA star or washed boxer this time. Most Valuable Promotions announced Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) will face French combat sports icon Cédric Doumbé (75-7-1, 45 KOs kickboxing; 6-1, 6 KOs MMA; 1-0 boxing) on Thursday, December 24, at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.\n\nThe fight will be a professionally sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight bout at 200 pounds, with 10-ounce gloves. It marks Paul's first appearance in the ring since Anthony Joshua broke his jaw in their fight last December.\n\nDoumbé is a multi-time kickboxing world champion who has reportedly been calling Paul out for roughly two years, dating back to a fight in which he knocked an opponent out in 9 seconds. Paul did not pass up the chance to needle him back, referencing Doumbé's kickboxing pedigree while pointing out that boxing is a different game entirely. He invoked Oleksandr Usyk's dominant win over Rico Verhoeven as a preview of what he expects to do to Doumbé.\n\nThe matchup gives Paul a chance to rebuild momentum after the Joshua loss, while Doumbé gets his long-awaited shot at boxing's biggest crossover attraction.","published_at":"2026-11-02T22:19:02.262734+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Jake Paul’s next boxing opponent revealed as former kickboxing champ Cedric Doumbé","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/11/02/sports/jake-pauls-next-boxing-opponent-revealed-as-cedric-doumbe/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul's next opponent revealed","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-pauls-next-opponent-revealed-160515049.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Jake Paul books ex-kickboxing champion for return fight","url":"https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/50357631/jake-paul-face-former-kickboxing-champion-return-fight"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Jake Paul to fight MMA star Cédric Doumbé in Dubai on Christmas Eve","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7747064/2026/11/02/jake-paul-cedric-doumbe-boxing/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Paul to fight MMA star Doumbe on 24 December","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/paul-fight-mma-star-doumbe-121633614.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul reveals opponent for boxing return on Christmas Eve","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-reveals-opponent-boxing-123532446.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul draws Cedric Doumbe for Christmas Eve boxing return in Dubai","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-draws-cedric-doumbe-125718229.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul reveals Christmas Eve opponent and makes admission on broken jaw","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-reveals-christmas-eve-124836655.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul will fight French kickboxing star Cédric Doumbé Dec. 24 in Dubai","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-fight-french-kickboxing-133214490.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in the ring for Dec. 24 fight against MMA star Doumbe","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/youtuber-turned-boxer-jake-paul-134331938.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul to fight MMA star Cedric Doumbe","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-fight-mma-star-151313812.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Who is Cedric Doumbe? 4 things every Jake Paul boxing fan should know about next opponent","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cedric-doumbe-4-things-every-154047977.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul lands kickboxing champion Cédric Doumbé for Christmas Eve return in Dubai","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-lands-kickboxing-champion-154221538.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul throws profane jab to promote holiday fight with kickboxer","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-throws-profane-jab-183344582.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul sends clear warning to Cedric Doumbe ahead of Christmas Eve spectacle","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jake-paul-sends-clear-warning-190546481.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Jake Paul got his jaw broken by Anthony Joshua. Now he's going back to what he knows best","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/boxing/article/jake-paul-got-his-jaw-broken-by-anthony-joshua-now-hes-going-back-to-what-he-knows-best-cedric-doumbe-225157795.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F1217%2Fr1590396_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg","credit":"ESPN","width":1296},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}