Cedric Doumbe and Jaleel Willis don’t appear to like each other very much.
The two men will fight in the co-main event of the Bellator Champions Series Paris event on May 17. The main event will see Bellator men’s bantamweight champion Patchy Mix defend his title against Magomed Magomedov in a rematch of their 2022 meeting.
Mix won the first fight via submission.
However, the loudest pop of the evening will undoubtedly take place when Doumbe climbs into the cage. After a successful kickboxing career, France’s Doumbe signed with PFL/Bellator to kick off a mixed martial arts career.
He was on a 5-0 run to start his journey before taking a controversial loss in his last fight because of a splinter in his foot.
He’s coming into the fight with the American Willis with something to prove, and judging by the barbs the two men exchanged at a pre-event conference call, there is some apparent bad blood between the two fighters.
“France is waiting for me,” Doumbe said during the call. “All the French crowd, the French people and even American people are waiting for me to knock him [Willis] out. I will do what I do best, rip his head off, shut his mouth and send him back to the U.S.”
Willis, a native of Tennessee, is a veteran of 21 professional fights. He has fought for Bellator six times. The best fighter he’s faced in his career is title challenger Ramazan Kuramagomedov in June 2023.
Willis was defeated via TKO in that fight. In his next fight, the undefeated Kuramagomedov will challenge Jason Jackson for his Bellator welterweight title.
Despite the loss to Kuramagomedov, Willis is confident ahead of his clash with Doumbe.
“How many times do anybody get to go into anyone’s backyard and dominate and do some s*** and be glorified for it and not get locked up,” Willis asked rhetorically.
Doumbe won his PFL debut in September 2023 with a spectacular 9-second KO win over Jordan Zebo in a fight that also took place in France. The KO went viral partially because of the savagery of the hooks that landed and the quick finish but also because of the reaction of world football star Kylian Mbappe, who was on hand for the fight.
“You know, I’m a fighter,” Doumbe said. “I was born to fight. I was born to knock people out. I was born to knock Jaleel out, so I will do it.”
“He will go for the fight,” Doumbe continued. “That’s very, very good. And then he can visit Paris before the fight. Because after the fight he will visit the hospital of Paris. And that will be not, you know, that will not be good for him. So he can even smoke another joint. Like he did on the last interview. You know, for me, he doesn’t need any joints. Because after the first smack, he will be high forever.”
Willis is a late replacement, as Doumbe was initially scheduled to face Derek Anderson in this fight. Anderson suffered an injury and was forced out.
Willis represents a veteran test for Doumbe as PFL/Bellator ramps the French star up as he prepares to challenge for MMA championships ultimately.
Doumbe, known for his showmanship, made it clear during the conference call that he has no personal history with Willis. However, he did express his displeasure with Willis’ intentions to make a statement in France at his expense, hinting at a potential clash of styles and egos in the cage.
Here is a look at the entire main card and the information on viewing it.
The fights begin at 3 pm ET and can be seen on HBO Max.
- (c) Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov – Men’s Bantamweight Championship
- Cedric Doumbe vs. Jaleel Willis
- Gregory Babene vs. Costello Van Steenis
- Yves Landu vs. Jonas Bilharinho
- Archie Colgan vs. Thibault Gouti
