Yahoo Sports Doumbe wins on return from glass-in-foot Paris defeat
Cedric Doumbe stopped Jaleel Willis in the first round at the Bellator Champions Series in Paris, bouncing back from the controversial defeat he suffered in the same arena two months ago.
French welterweight Doumbe, 31, dropped American Jaleel Willis with a huge right hand before finishing the fight with a flurry of strikes in front of a raucous crowd at the Accor Arena.
It was in contrast to the scene in March, where Doumbe lost to Baysangur Chamsoudinov with the referee stopping the fight after he complained of glass in his foot.
After his win on Friday, Doumbe was joined in the cage by former UFC champion Anthony Pettis, setting up a potential bout between the pair later in the year.
The pair shook hands before American Pettis said he wanted the fight to take place in Paris.
"Come on, fighting me in another country, that's murder, that's insane," said Doumbe.
"But fighting me in Paris? These guys are crazy."
Former two-time kickboxing world champion Doumbe has become a star in France since transitioning to MMA in 2021, with his exciting fighting style and vibrant personality winning over fans.
A nine-second knockout on his PFL debut wowed MMA fans in the country, including Kylian Mbappe, but his momentum was halted by the controversial defeat by Chamsoudinov.
Doumbe, who said referee Marc Goddard was "wrong" to stop the bout, referenced the moment during his walkout to face Willis as he appeared with a vacuum cleaner.
Doumbe then pretended to hoover up any stray glass on the floor in front of the big screen, before making his way to the cage.
The bout was only added to the card in April, with Doumbe adding he wanted a quick return to action so he could put the March defeat behind him, and he accomplished that by making quick work of Willis.
Doumbe connected with his dangerous left hook early, stunning Willis, before the American shot for a number of takedowns which were prevented.
The fight-ending moment came as Doumbe unleashed a number of heavy strikes, connecting with a right hand which dropped Willis.
As Doumbe followed up with an array of punches on the ground, the referee waved off the contest despite Willis' brave attempt to get back to his feet.
The win takes Doumbe's record in MMA to six wins and one defeat.
In the main event, American bantamweight champion Patchy Mix narrowly retained his title with a split decision win over Russia's Magomed Magomedov.
The fight was promoted to the top of the card last month after Usman Nurmagomedov's lightweight title defence against fellow Russian Alexander Shabliy was cancelled following an injury to the champion.
Magomedov, 32, appeared to have the bigger moments in the fight, rocking the 30-year-old American in multiple rounds.
Mix, who beat Magomedov in 2022 via a guillotine choke, twice had the Russian in trouble with the same manoeuvre during the contest but his submission attempts were well defended.
When the scores were revealed, with one judge scoring the fight 49-46 in Magomedov's favour and the other two 48-47 to Mix, the result was greeted by loud boos from the crowd.
The win represented Mix's first title defence since unifying the division with victory over Sergio Pettis in November, and improved his record to 20 wins and one defeat.
