It has been officially announced who Jake Paul will be facing in his return to the ring later this year.
Paul was last in action in December 2025 when he made an audacious bid to overcome former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
While the fight may have gone longer than most people anticipated, it ended in in the sixth round when Joshua landed a big right hand that broke the jaw of Paul and has kept him out of action ever since.
Over 12 months on, ‘The Problem Child’ is scheduled to return on Christmas Eve in Dubai, and had been linked to a rematch with past foe Tommy Fury along with a clash against former UFC star Darren Till.
Neither of those men have been selected though, as it has been confirmed that Paul will face kickboxing legend and current MMA fighter Cedric Doumbe.
Guess who’s back…
…Devinez qui est de retour.#PaulDoumbeTickets go on sale Sunday November 15th. Link in bio to register.
Free and open to the public: Paul vs. Doumbé Kickoff Press Conferences take place Tuesday, November 10 at 6:00pm CET at Pavillon Cambon in Paris,… pic.twitter.com/qUxXoSt8lv
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 2, 2026
During his kickboxing career, Doumbe became a two-time Glory welterweight champion, and was ranked as the number one welterweight in the world for a number of years, with his final kickboxing bout coming in 2021.
He has since made the transition to MMA, where he holds a record of six wins and one defeat, while he also has a 1-0 record in boxing from one previous bout that took place back in 2015.
Paul will be expected to come out on top against Doumbe, and the Youtuber-turned-boxer may look to then once again turn his attention to trying to secure a fight with Canelo Alvarez, after calling out the Mexican superstar following his win over Christian Mbilli.
