JRE MMA Show #77 with Cedric Doumbe
Joe Rogan (host), Cedric Doumbé (guest)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Cedric Doumbé, JRE MMA Show #77 with Cedric Doumbe explores 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.
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.
Key Takeaways
Elite 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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A strong personal story can serve as a powerful mental coach.
He uses memories of growing up poor in France, his mother’s sacrifices, and their early struggles (like living without running water) as fuel to manage nerves in the locker room and to reframe fights as opportunities, not fears.
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Legacy goals can outweigh short-term financial offers.
Even though he appreciates Glory and acknowledges they might offer more money to keep him, Doumbé says he will prioritize becoming the first French UFC champion and a dual-sport great over staying in kickboxing for higher immediate pay.
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Notable 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
Questions Answered in This Episode
How realistic is Doumbé’s timeline of one year of focused MMA training before jumping straight into top-tier UFC welterweight fights?
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.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What specific adjustments would his striking need to make for small gloves, takedown threats, and cage fighting compared to Glory’s ring and big gloves?
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.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Could his self-coaching approach in kickboxing translate effectively to MMA, or will he eventually need a dedicated MMA head coach?
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.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How might Doumbé’s desire to become a comedian and actor influence the way he markets himself and builds a fanbase if he joins the UFC?
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.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
If more Glory-level champions move to MMA, will high-level kickboxing increasingly be viewed as a stepping stone rather than a destination sport?
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Transcript Preview
Boom. All right, we're live. (microphone thuds) What's going on, man? What do you got there? Text messaging people?
No. (laughs)
(laughs) Shutting your phone off?
Yeah, I just put it on-
Silent?
... silent mode.
How long have you been in America now for? You're, you're only here for like two weeks, right?
(smacks lips) Uh, yeah. I came for two week and, yeah, and th- three days. And, uh, as you invited me at the, at the UFC, and-
Did you enjoy it?
Yeah, it was great. That's my first time at the UFC.
That's the first time, really?
Yeah. Even at an MMA event.
You've never been to an MMA event?
No, no.
Really?
No. In France, it's so boring, you know. You know that, uh, now it's forbidden in France.
Yes.
And you can't hit a guy when he's in, on the floor.
Oh.
So that's why it used to be boring in France, because they fight, like striking, and then when a guy take you down, and then it's just BJJ and, uh, grabbing-
Adjust the missions?
Yeah.
Yes. Oh, that's interesting.
Yeah.
So their MMA rules, when they would go to the ground, no striking at all?
No striking. So that's why it's boring.
Even to the body?
Even in the b- Oh, I think, yeah, in the body, they can.
Oh, okay.
They can.
But you can't punch to the face?
No. It's so boring, so that's why I never-
That's so interesting.
... I never been in a MMA even in France. But UFC at 241 was crazy, especially the fight. The Diaz fight and the-
Mm-hmm.
... and the, and the main event was cool.
Now, as a kickboxing champion, and when you watch MMA, do you... I know that you've been training, and I know that you, you spent some time while you're out here at AKA.
Yeah.
Are you thinking of eventually making your way to the UFC?
No, I'm not thinking. That's what, that's what I will do.
You will do, yeah.
Yeah, that's what I will do. That's what I, I wanna do. You know, (smacks lips) uh, yeah, as you said, I'm the, the Glory champ now. I have five belt. My, my first dream before Glory was to, to become the, yeah, the greatest kickboxing in the world, kickboxer in the world. I wanted to beat, uh, everybody in my division. (sighs) That's what I did. Before, uh, Nieky Holzken was the, the champ-champ.
Yeah.
Undefeated since six years. Uh, yeah, he wa- he was the greatest in Glory, and I was like, "Damn, how, how do I gonna beat him? You know, he's so, he's so strong." And I beat him. I beat him, yeah, twice. (smacks lips) I beat everybody. So after that, before people was asking me, "Do you think, uh, to go to MMA? Because I, I think you should do something great in MMA." I was like, "No, I don't like MMA." I don't wa- I, I, I don't like, like wrestling, BJJ. I don't like this kind of sport. I'm a striker, you know? I was like, "No, I don't like it." And yet, two years ago, I was like, "Damn, (laughs) I think I like it, you know?" Because I, I train once, (smacks lips) and, uh, I really, I really like it, you know?
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