French superstar Cédric Doumbé returns this Friday as he looks to put his disappointing setback last time out behind him.
The former GLORY kickboxer suffered the first defeat of his MMA career in Paris several months ago where his fight with Baissangour Chamsoudinov came to an unfortunate and bizarre ending.
Doumbé had a lot to say after the fight was called off and declared a TKO loss due to a splinter in his toe that he wasn't allowed time to deal with, having tried to signal a pause in the action.
At the Bellator Champions Series' Paris debut on May 17 at the Accor Arena, he will look to silence the critics with his actions rather than words.
The 31-year old will be taking on Bellator veteran and former LFA champion Jaleel Willis who has plans to spoil the party when he steps into enemy territory.
Having not been aware of Willis before the fight was announced, Doumbé revealed during the media day interviews that he is yet to see his opponent in action and why that isn't too important to him.
"I have to watch at least one round, I didn't even watch because as I said, it doesn't matter who you put in front of me, it's going to be the same sentence, same thing in the cage because I don't like to make strategy or anything like that, I adapt myself all the time. So I didn't know about Jaleel but I heard about him, I know he's a good wrestler but that's it."
Regardless of the opponent, he's focused in on making a statement in the co-main event to remind people that have been criticising him after the loss in March.
He said that his fans know that the defeat wasn't a real loss and that just because people pointed their fingers at him last time out, he isn't going to stop doing what he does best and that's putting on a show both in and outside of the cage.
"I do it for fun, I can't fight without doing that. For me, it's not because I want to get inside my opponent's head, it's just because I love it, because I cannot fight without talking s***, without bothering my opponent or something like that. For me, it's just funny, it's just a game, it's a part of the fight."
Coming off of a loss or not, the fans inside the Accor Arena in Paris are sure to raise the roof when he makes the walk.
The French fans have started to build up a real reputation for being one of the best live crowds in combat sports and Doumbé is happy to play the role of conductor.
He believes that there is one specific reason why the French fans have really taken to combat sports in recent years.
"Because of Cédric Doumbé I think, there is no one else in France who can make them that excited. I think they just love combat sports because it's an exciting sport, they love also soccer but combat sports is something special, especially when you have a fighter who can put on the show for the crowd."
Doumbé will look to do just that on Friday night in the French capital where he competes under the Bellator banner for the first time where he plans on getting off to a strong start.
"I hope in Bellator there is no splinter like in PFL, I'm kidding."
Watch the full media day interview below:
