According to the kickboxing news Twitter account BeyondKickboxing, the GLORY welterweight kickboxing champion Cédric Doumbé‘s MMA debut has been marked for the first of November. Doumbé’s debut will be in the Romanian fighting promotion Superkombat. His opponent will be Arbi Emiev, a Russian 2-2 MMA fighter and former kickboxer himself. The event will be held in Dubai, UAE. Doumbé has retired from kickboxing to move to MMA permanently, and leaves the sport on a high note, being ranked #4 pound-for-pound by BeyondKickboxing before his exit.
BREAKING! Cédric Doumbé has signed with Superkombat and will make his MMA debut on November, 1st in Dubai. He takes on Chechnya's Arbi Emiev. The event marks a big return to form for Superkombat with four scheduled title fights, on top of Doumbé's MMA debut. pic.twitter.com/Iv7PbEFH3n
Cédric Doumbé‘s MMA Debut – A Terror Enters the Cage
Doumbé has attracted a significant amount of attention for his charisma and knockout ability. The two-time GLORY welterweight champion leaves kickboxing on a 4-fight knockout streak. His last fight was a rubber match victory over his longtime opponent Murthel Groenhart. Doumbé also racked up impressive victories over other names of the sport, including two wins over Neiky Holzken. Doumbé has recently posted a video online calling out several prominent welterweights in MMA from the UFC and Bellator, including Kamaru Usman and Yaroslav Amasov.
Doumbé has also implied in a video posted on Youtube that he is already in talks to fight in the UFC. If signed, he would join his GLORY compatriot Alex Pereira, the former light heavyweight champion who has also retired from kickboxing to become an MMA fighter. Pereira’s UFC debut will be on November 6. The two are some of the most high-profile signings to the UFC in terms of kickboxing ever.
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There have always been prominent kickboxing crossovers to the sport with legends such as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. However, this uptick may be driven by recent events. Israel Adesanya, currently the UFC’s middleweight champion, has achieved a high level of success in the company. This may have provided the impetus for other top kickboxers to follow his example and try and ply their trade in MMA.
In a recent episode of the Couch Warrior Podcast, host Mike welcomed Charalampos Grigoriou, who recently won a contract during season 7 of Dana White's Contender Series after knocking out Cameron Smotherman one minute into the fight. The conversation delved into Grigoriou's martial arts journey, his feelings on representing Cyprus and Greece, and future plans.
