Bellator's Cedric Doumbe returns vs. Derek Anderson in Paris, but Nurmagomedov-Shabliy title fight scrapped
Cedric Doumbe will get to electrify his home fans once again.
Doumbe (5-1) meets Derek Anderson (17-4-1) in the Bellator Champions Series: Paris co-headliner, which takes place May 17 at Accor Arena in Paris, the promotion announced Monday.
Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov’s title defense against Alexander Shabliy, the card’s original main event, has been scrapped due to an injury to Nurmagomedov. The fight is expected to be rebooked in the near future.
Doumbe has signed a multi-year contract extension with PFL. After scoring a 9-second knockout of Jordan Zebo in his promotional debut, the French superstar suffered an odd TKO loss to Baysangur Chamsoudinov in the 2024 PFL Europe 1 headliner in March.
After splitting the first two rounds with Chamsoudinov, Doumbe looked at referee Marc Goddard and pointed to his left toe twice in the span of 10 seconds, signaling that he’s hurt. That prompted Goddard to wave the fight off which baffled a frustrated Doumbe, who just wanted a splint removed from his toe. John McCarthy explained that you cannot call a timeout in the middle of the fight.
Marc Goddard: "You know you can't do that. You can't call a timeout."
Cédric Doumbé: "The second time I didn't say I don't want to fight."
The #PFLParis main event ends in bizarre fashion after Doumbé suffers a toe injury. pic.twitter.com/U6wKhHO6CC
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 7, 2024
Anderson has won three out of his past four. The 34-year-old Bellator veteran hasn’t competed since shattering his nose in a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Michael Page in May 2021.
With the addition, the Bellator Champions Series: Paris lineup includes:
MAIN CARD:
- Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov – for bantamweight title
- Derek Anderson vs. Cedric Doumbe
- 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 Fontes