In a week that included both a fight booking announcement and cancellation news in a two-day stretch, Cedric Doumbe is officially back on the schedule on Day 3.
With Derek Anderson out, Doumbe (5-1) now faces former LFA champion Jaleel Willis (16-5) at Bellator Champions Series: Paris, the promotion announced Wednesday. The event takes place May 17 at Accor Arena in Paris.
Willis, 32, has a 4-3 record in Bellator. A proud representative of Memphis, Tenn., Willis worked his way into the promotion in 2020 after 15 fights on the regional scene. After back-to-back wins over Mark Lemminger and Maycon Mendonca, Willis lost consecutive fights by submission to Mukhamed Berkhamov and Sabah Homasi. He bounced back with a win over Kyle Crutchmer before he was knocked out by Ramazan Kuramagomedov in June.
Doumbe, 31, looks to get back in the win column after a controversial loss to Baysangur Chamsoudinov in March. The defeat came when Doumbe allegedly stepped on a splinter in the cage and tried to signal referee Marc Goddard that something was wrong. The sequence lead to confusion and Goddard waved off the fight. The loss was Doumbe’s first and came after a massive nine-second knockout win in his PFL debut against Jordan Zebo in September.
🚨 𝙊𝙁𝙁𝙄𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙇: Cédric Doumbé takes on USA’s Jaleel Willis at #BellatorParis!
Following the withdrawal of Derek Anderson due to injury, @jaleelwillis1 steps in to challenge @CedricDoumbe in Paris on Friday May 17.
Tickets are on sale NOW, get them while you can! 💨… pic.twitter.com/3dWJBuVrBc
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 24, 2024
With the change, the Bellator Champion Series: Paris lineup includes:
- Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov – for bantamweight title
- Cedric Doumbe vs. Jaleel Willis
- Gregory Babene vs. Costello van Steenis
- Jonas Bilharinho vs. Yves Landu
- Archie Colgan vs. Thibault Gouti
PRELIMINARY CARD:
- Louis Sutherland vs. Slim Trabelsi
- Mansour Barnaoui vs. Yusuke Yachi
- Imamshafi Aliev vs. Mike Shipman
- Aspen Ladd vs. Katerina Shakalova
- Asael Adjoudj vs. Bruno Fonte
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Champions Series: Paris.
