One day after Paul formally announced a Dec. 24 boxing match against French kickboxer and MMA star Cedric Doumbe in Dubai, the polarizing influencer-turned-fighter stated that he intends to “hang up the gloves” and retire from boxing if he loses to Doumbe. In a video on his YouTube channel, Paul made it official:
“Now all jokes aside, this is a dangerous fight. Cedric has been in there with killers his whole career. He’s a two-time [GLORY Kickboxing] world champion and he’s not scared of anybody, including me, ‘The Vanilla Gorilla.’ But this is my sport. No kicks, no takedowns, and no glass on the floor [like in Doumbe’s lone PFL loss] — we checked.
“If he wins, I will hang up the gloves and call it a day. But if he loses, the man who calls himself ‘The Best’ just got beat up by a YouTuber with a titanium jaw. So Cedric Doumbe, I, Jake Joseph Paul, will knock you out, embarrass you and defeat you on Christmas Eve. This fight is not going the distance and someone is getting put to sleep in the Middle East, and it’s not Santa.”
Paul (12-2, 7 KOs), 29, has been sidelined throughout all of 2026 as he recovered from the broken jaw he suffered in his sixth-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in December 2025. Joshua — a 6-foot-6, two-time heavyweight world champion — significantly out-sized the 6-foot-1 Paul en route to handing the American his first loss by knockout.
Paul’s injuries required multiple surgeries to address, and even raised questions about his boxing future. Paul admitted on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” in May that he wasn’t sure whether he’d ever be able to fight again.
Doumbe, a two-time GLORY Kickboxing champion and star name for Paul’s PFL MMA organization, traditionally competes at 170 pounds, but will be moving up in weight to fight Paul in the 200-pound cruiserweight division. Doumbe has competed only once as a pro boxer, winning a four-round decision over Mohamed Fodil in a 2015 bout in France.
In Paul’s video Tuesday, he also reflected on his loss to Joshua and the broken jaw that kept him out of the ring for nearly a year:
“Why now? Honestly, after Joshua, part of me thought about quitting and never boxing again. He broke my jaw. I have two titanium plates in my mouth. I couldn’t eat for weeks. I couldn’t even talk or smile at my bank statements. I was just laying in bed, night after night, asking myself, ‘Do I still want to do this?’
“Yeah, obviously I still want to do this. I ain’t no b****.”
Enjoying this article? Support our work with a small crypto donation.“Y’all said, ‘Fight a real boxer,’ so I fought Anthony f***ing Joshua, and people still want to talk. Y’all don’t get it — I will fight anyone, any time, any place. I’ve said it before.
“And my next victim just so happens to be the biggest fighter in France.”
Paul vs. Doumbe is set to take place at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena.
A broadcast partner for the event has yet to be announced.
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