PFL Star Cédric Doumbé Booked to Face Unbeaten Fighter After Viral KO
Former GLORY kickboxing champion Cédric Doumbé will return to the PFL cage in March following his sensational debut last year.
“Le Meilluer” only made the jump to MMA in 2021, but after finishing his first four opponents with strikes the Frenchman quickly became one of the most sought-after talents in combat sports and seemed like he was poised to join the UFC.
Things with the UFC ended up falling apart before Doumbé signed on with the PFL, and at PFL Europe 3 last September the 31-year-old only needed 9 seconds to brutally stop Jordan Zébo in the card’s headlining bout.
The viral knockout positioned the former kickboxing champion as a key figure for the PFL in 2024, and now Doumbé is set to take on his unbeaten countryman Baissangour Chamsoudinov in the main event of PFL Europe 1 on March 7.
A veteran of top French regional promotion Ares FC, Chamsoudinov last competed in the main event of Ares FC 16 and stopped UFC veteran Efrain Escudero with strikes in the second round.
“Baki” was scheduled to meet Felix Klinkhammer for the vacant Ares FC welterweight title last November before he missed weight ahead of the bout, and now Chamsoudinov will headline an even bigger event when he makes his PFL debut against Doumbé in Paris.
The welterweight main event between Doumbé and Chamsoudinov is the only bout that’s been announced for PFL Europe 1 so far, but the card should feature a number of intriguing matchups after the success of last year's PFL Europe shows.
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