Another Cameroonian-French fighter gives good reasons to pick Bellator over UFC shortly after Francis Ngannou's exit
One of the most important stories of the new year was Francis Ngannou's departure from the UFC. The promotion's indifference towards letting the Cameroonian-French fighter pursue boxing bouts was the final straw in his decision to leave the organization.
Ngannou has been vocal about his desire for more creative control over future contracts, claiming that at certain moments during discussions, he believed the UFC was pressuring him to accept their terms. Francis Ngannou claims he proposed fighter health insurance and requested a representative to steer future contract negotiations during his final contract talks with the UFC.
Fellow Cameroonian-French fighter Cedric Doumbe, a former two-time Glory welterweight champion, recently came out and gave some solid reasons for a combatant to pick Bellator rather than sign with the UFC.
The highly prolific kickboxer, who was once ranked the No.1 welterweight kickboxer for years, declared through an Instagram story that if given the option, he would choose Bellator over the UFC (story translated via koveur.com):
"The UFC is good but in real life, Bellator offers me a sick sum... If I go to the UFC it's only for you! The UFC is more media but we take risks for our health...It's not the UFC that fills the fridge."
Doumbe has remained undefeated in his MMA career since transitioning to the sport in 2021. Interestingly, Doumbe was slated to fight Darian Weeks on September 3, 2022, at UFC Paris. The fight was scheduled to go down, but it was scrapped due to the French Mixed Martial Arts Federation (FMMAF) would not authorize it because of a rule that states that fighters with fewer than ten professional bouts cannot have a greater than four fight disparity between them.
WOOOW 😨❌
Doumbé va peut-être pas signer à l’UFC pour le Bellator, il indique :
« L'UFC c'est bien mais en vrai de vrai, le Bellator me propose une somme de malade. L'UFC c'est plus médiatique mais on prend des risques pour notre santé… C'est pas l'UFC qui remplit le frigo » https://t.co/dINCiOZxMH
Watch: Rare footage of Francis Ngannou and Cedric Doumbe training together
Prominent Cameroonian-French fighters Francis Ngannou and Cedric Doumbe engaged in a sparring session once despite their size difference. Needless to say, the sparring session, which was orchestrated in the MMA Factory in 2018, was fascinating to watch.
During that time, Francis Ngannou had just started taking training trips back and forth between the US and France, dividing his training camp between two gyms. The Cameroonian met Cedric Doumbe during a return trip to the MMA Factory to observe Fernand Lopez's training sessions. Ngannou now trains at the Xtreme Couture facility in Las Vegas and has since left the MMA Factory.
The two competitors put up a tremendous show of sparring despite the weight disparity. It was entertaining to watch both fighters spar, despite Ngannou's clear power advantage and Doumbe's deft footwork and diversity of strikes.
Check out the video below: