A year after suffering a jaw-shattering loss against Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul is finally set to return. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has been slated to step back into the ring on Christmas Eve, and many thought he would settle his grudge match against Darren Till. But Paul’s next opponent has successfully caught everyone by surprise.

‘The Problem Child’s’ return would take place on December 24, 2026, against former French MMA fighter Cédric Doumbé in the cruiserweight division for an 8-round headliner boxing match at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“Guess who’s back…Devinez qui est de retour. #PaulDoumbe,” Paul wrote in his Instagram caption while revealing the fight poster.

Jake Paul’s return could strike some as underwhelming because Doumbé doesn’t have the same star power as his previous opponents. However, that doesn’t mean the French fighter is a nobody. In fact, Doumbé has had a very successful career in combat sports, especially in MMA and kickboxing.

The French-Cameroonian fighter burst into the spotlight primarily because of his achievements as a kickboxer. Doumbé competed in GLORY Kickboxing, which produced some of the biggest names in combat sports, including Alex Pereira, Israel Adesanya, and Rico Verhoeven.

During his run in GLORY, the Frenchman became the promotion’s two-time welterweight champion, firmly establishing himself among its greats.

His overall kickboxing career amassed a highly impressive 75 wins, 7 losses, and 1 draw, including 45 knockouts. Alongside that, the 34-year-old also had one professional boxing fight against Mohamed Fodil in April 2015 in Paris.

Right after ending his glorious kickboxing career in 2021, Doumbé transitioned to professional mixed martial arts. 

Following some excellent performances in various promotions, Doumbé became a hot prospect in the MMA world. For a brief moment, the UFC was genuinely interested in signing him. The Frenchman was booked for his UFC debut against Darian Weeks at UFC Paris in September 2022.

However, the French commission refused to sanction the fight because he had fewer than the required number of professional MMA bouts at the time. Doumbé subsequently signed with PFL and made a record-breaking debut by knocking out Jordan Zèbo in 9 seconds at PFL Europe 3 in 2023. 

But the Limoges-based fighter suffered his first loss against Baysangur Chamsoudinov at PFL Europe 1 in March 2024.

The 34-year-old made a quick turnaround to face Jaleel Willis in May 2024 at Bellator Champions Series and scored a first-round knockout victory. This win remains the last MMA fight of Doumbé’s career, as he hasn’t competed since beating Willis.

Doumbé didn’t elaborate much on why he stopped fighting after beating Willis. However, in an interview with DAZN, the Frenchman said he had “voluntarily” stepped away from competition and implied that he hasn’t retired from MMA.

His return against Paul would mark his first fight in two years. However, it might turn out to be a very tough outing for him.

Paul is a natural cruiserweight who regularly competes at 200 pounds, while the former Glory champ is a 170–175-pound fighter, creating an easy 25–30-pound difference between the two. Plus, Doumbé’s inactivity could also play a crucial role in swinging the fight in Paul’s favor. 

Still, it’s expected that the French-Cameroonian would prepare himself for the bout, considering he called out Jake Paul for a fight back in December 2023 according to talkSPORT’s article. Finally, the MMA fighter will get the chance to face his adversary at the end of this year.  

But this isn’t the first time Paul has faced an MMA fighter in a boxing match. He has previously defeated former UFC fighters like Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva.

Sadly, Darren Till was snubbed for a boxing match against Paul, which had almost seemed like a done deal.  

Darren Till misses out on a Jake Paul fight  

In late October, Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder, Nakisa Bidarian, told Jack Figg of The Sun Sport that they were looking forward to a fight with Darren Till. Bidarian also confirmed that if negotiations went smoothly within the 24-hour deadline, the two could have fought on Christmas Eve.

However, despite both parties being in negotiations, Till recently claimed that Jake Paul ultimately chose to fight Cedric Doumbé, snubbing him in the process while he was in camp.

“I thought we were all good to go,” Till told Uncrowned. “I’ve been in camp for the past two weeks with my coach. … And out of nowhere, this f***ing daft fight gets announced with Cédric Doumbé. I don’t think anyone outside of his own household even knows who he is.” Jake probably just wants to see how his jaw’s holding up against someone who weighs about 150 pounds on a good day. 

“It’s just a fraudulent show. Everyone’s a fraud. Jake’s a fraud. [Nakisa Bidarian’s] a little fraud, wasting my time. Couldn’t give a f***. Not arsed. If you want to fight me next year, fight me next year. But yeah. I’ve just wasted about $6,705 getting my coach out here for camp and stuff like that, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all good.”

Darren Till sounded very upset while discussing missing out on the Jake Paul fight, and understandably so. The former UFC fighter has been campaigning for a boxing match against the YouTuber for years, but each time, the opportunity has fallen through. Now, once again, the two fighters will not share the ring, as Paul has chosen to face Doumbé instead.

Regardless, Jake Paul has a name for his final fight of the year, and perhaps after that, we could get to see a potential clash with Darren Till.