Cedric Doumbe is one of the most recent acquisitions made by the UFC. He has the potential to go down as a legendary fighter inside the cage.
Prior to his retirement, the Cameroonian kickboxer was the No. 1-ranked welterweight in the world for several years and is a 2-time Glory welterweight champion. In what appears to become a trend recently, the kickboxing champion has decided to transition into MMA. Doumbe will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow former kickboxers Alex Pereira and of course Israel Adesanya. Only time will tell if he will reach the same level of success. We will see soon if he will be able to achieve the same heights as he is expected to make his debut on Sept. 3 at the UFC Paris card versus Darian Weeks.
If you are unfamiliar with Cédric Doumbé, I’ve created this thread starting with his beginnings in MMA, followed by his career prior to that in Glory. Showing why the former Kickboxing champion is someone the UFC have recently signed to their roster despite being just 2-0 in MMA. pic.twitter.com/RHoMg7323f
— Shed Boy (@Callum_JN) July 27, 2022
Standing at 5 feet 10 inches and stating on the Joe Rogan podcast that his walk-around weight is around 187lbs, Doumbe is not massive for the welterweight division and will often be at a size disadvantage at this weight. Combine the size disadvantage along with the presence of high-level wrestlers at 170lbs such as Khamzat Chimaev, Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady to name just a few, and this may be a real reason Doumbe would consider dropping down to lightweight.
He already weighs the same as the likes of Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira and the only true wrestlers in the division are Islam Makhachev and possibly Arman Tsarukyan. Doumbe would undoubtedly find it easier to find stylistically favorable matchups while he works his way up the division.
Still, time will tell what the former Glory champ decides to do, and if he has a good performance on Sept. 3, we may have a new challenger for the welterweight crown sooner rather than later.