At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Cedric Doumbé Plots Move From Glory Greatness To UFC Stardom
- Joe Rogan interviews Glory welterweight kickboxing champion Cédric Doumbé about his rise from full-contact novice in France to one of the best strikers in the world.
- Doumbé explains his late-blooming love for MMA and jiu-jitsu, his plans to train wrestling seriously at AKA, and his goal to become both a Glory and UFC world champion.
- They dive into his drastic style change from elusive point-fighter to knockout artist, how professional dieting and conditioning transformed his performances, and why he currently coaches himself in kickboxing.
- The conversation also explores Doumbé’s background, his mother’s influence, his ambitions as a comedian and actor, and broader topics like kickboxing’s popularity, weight cutting, and stars such as Badr Hari, Rico Verhoeven, Conor McGregor, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasElite kickboxers can transition to MMA if they take grappling seriously.
Doumbé believes a top-level kickboxer who commits to wrestling, takedown defense, and jiu-jitsu—training them as if they were their primary sport—can become a serious MMA threat, which is exactly the path he’s pursuing at AKA and in Paris.
Professional nutrition and conditioning can radically change fight outcomes.
He went from crash-dieting days before fights and gassing out, to working with a dedicated diet coach and strength/conditioning trainer; after that shift he started finishing opponents instead of just outpointing them.
Cardio often separates evenly matched fighters more than technique does.
Doumbé argues that between two similarly skilled fighters, the one with superior conditioning usually wins, which is why he now prioritizes conditioning work even more than technical kickboxing training.
Self-coaching is possible but demands obsessive learning and experimentation.
After early coaches became unavailable, Doumbé spent years traveling to top gyms in Holland and Belgium, absorbing knowledge, then returned to Paris to design his own training, sparring structure, and game plans with only pad-holding partners.
Style evolution can silence critics and expand a fighter’s brand.
Once labeled a ‘runner’ by opponents like Nieky Holzken for his movement-heavy, point-winning style, Doumbé consciously changed to a more destructive, KO-focused approach, which boosted his reputation to pound‑for‑pound best in Glory.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotes“I’m the best in kickboxing, and I wanna be the best in MMA, and I think I will.”
— Cédric Doumbé
“I wanna train wrestling and BJJ like I wanna be a world champion of wrestling.”
— Cédric Doumbé
“Between two fighters with the same experience, what’s gonna make the difference? The condition.”
— Cédric Doumbé
“People don’t believe me when I say this, but I don’t have a kickboxing coach. I train myself.”
— Cédric Doumbé
“I wanna shock the world. I wanna write a story people never heard about: Glory champ and then UFC champ.”
— Cédric Doumbé
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