Jake Paul to face former kickboxing champ in Dec. 24 return

Jake Paul's opponent for his return to the boxing ring will be former kickboxing world champion Cedric Doumbe, Most Valuable Promotions announced Monday.

The eight-round Christmas Eve cruiserweight bout in Dubai comes a little over a year after Paul sustained a broken jaw in a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua.

The always provocative Paul, 29, didn't waste any time before he started jawing with Doumbe, 34.

"Cedric Douchebag was calling me out two years ago after knocking some dude out in nine seconds," Paul said in a statement. "Well Douchebag, 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."

The fighters have scheduled public news conferences on Nov. 10 in Paris and Nov. 12 in Dubai.

"Jake Paul calls himself the Problem Child, but he's never faced a problem like me," Doumbe said. "He has no idea what a Frenchman is capable of. Jake loves to talk and so do I, but after what Joshua did to his jaw, I'm not sure how much talking he has left. I'm going to finish the job Joshua started."

Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) required multiple surgeries to repair his jaw after it was broken in two places by Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion. The scheduled eight-round bout ended in the sixth round on Dec. 19, 2025, in Miami.

Since making his professional debut in 2020, Paul has become one of boxing's biggest draws. His victory over Mike Tyson by unanimous decision in November 2024 drew 125 million viewers globally, according to MVP.

Doumbe boasts a kickboxing record of 75-7-1 with 45 knockouts. He is 6-1 in mixed martial arts, including the aforementioned nine-second KO of Jordan Zebo in September 2023.

Doumbe's only professional boxing appearance came in April 2015 with a win against Frenchman Mohamed Fodil.

--Field Level Media