Jake Paul says a loss to Cedric Doumbe will end his boxing career. One day after announcing the Dec. 24 fight at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, Paul posted a video Tuesday that pushed the stakes as high as they go.
“If he wins, I will hang up the gloves and call it a day,” Paul said.
He didn’t pretend the PFL star is a soft touch, either. “All jokes aside, this is a dangerous fight,” Paul said. “Cedric has been in there with killers his whole career.” Then came the reminder of whose rules they’re playing under: “No kicks, no takedowns, and no glass on the floor, we checked.” He finished with a promise that “this fight is not going the distance and someone is getting put to sleep in the Middle East.”
Christmas Eve will be Paul’s first time in the ring since Anthony Joshua knocked him out in Round 6 back in December 2025. That one cost him more than a loss on his record. Joshua broke his jaw, and Paul said in the video that the injury had him thinking about walking away.
“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,” Paul said. He described lying in bed asking himself whether he still wanted to fight, and then answered his own question in the most Jake Paul way possible: “Yeah, obviously I still want to do this. I ain’t no bitch.”
The Joshua defeat dropped the 29-year-old to 12-2. His only other loss came against Tommy Fury. Along the way he’s fought Mike Tyson, former WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and a long list of MMA names including Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, Mike Perry and Ben Askren.
Doumbe brings a different kind of resume to the dance. He’s a two-time Glory Kickboxing champion and holds a 6-1 record in MMA. Paul called him “the biggest fighter in France,” and he used the matchup to swing back at critics who’ve spent years picking apart his opponent choices.
“Y’all said, ‘Fight a real boxer,’ so I fought Anthony f*cking Joshua and people still want to talk,” Paul said. “I will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace.”
My take: retirement vows in combat sports have the shelf life of a gas station sushi roll, and Paul is the best promoter in the building, so file this under “great marketing” until proven otherwise. Still, I’m into it. This is a guy who got his jaw rebuilt with titanium and came back for a striker who’s spent his career getting paid to hurt people, instead of lining up another retired wrestler. Doumbe has to prove his kickboxing hands work without the kicks, Paul has to prove the Joshua fight didn’t take something out of him, and one of them is going home from Dubai with a very awkward New Year. Paul vs. Doumbe goes down Dec. 24 at Coca-Cola Arena.
