UFC & MMA Legend Ends 4-Year Layoff for Boxing Debut on Jake Paul Fight Card
An MMA legend will return for the first time in more than four years to compete on the Jake Paul vs. Cdric Doumb boxing card next month.
Scheduled to take place at Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, UAE on Christmas Eve, the latest event organized by Most Valuable Promotions will see Paul return to the boxing ring just over a year after he was knocked out by Anthony Joshua.
Standing across from Paul will be decorated kickboxer and current PFL star Doumb, who had two separate welterweight title runs with GLORY Kickboxing before he made the move to MMA in 2021.
Jake Paul Boxing Card Adds Alistair Overeem vs. Jimi Manuwa
The matchup between Paul and Doumb serves as a bit of a fitting end to the year for both MVP and the PFL, as the PFL's roster of fighters will officially be absorbed by the MVP brand in 2027 after Paul's promotion held its first MMA event earlier this year.
In a move that's sure to surprise longtime fight fans, MVP has also booked a heavyweight boxing match between MMA legend Alistair Overeem and fellow UFC veteran Jimi Manuwa as part of the Paul vs. Doumb card on December 24.
YES IT'S REAL. OVEREEM vs MANUWA goes down on the Jake Paul vs Cedric Doumbe card on Thursday, December 24th
- MVP - Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) November 12, 2026
Tickets go ON SALE Sun, Nov 15th
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Thursday, December 24th
Coca-Cola Arena - Dubai, UAE@visit.dubai @dubaisc#PaulDoumbepic.twitter.com/uEExyGJjVb
Alistair Overeem Challenged for UFC Heavyweight Belt in 2016
A veteran of more than 60 professional MMA fights, Overeem first rose to prominence with legendary Japanese promotion PRIDE before he moved on to Strikeforce in 2007 and become the promotion's inaugural (and only) heavyweight champion.
"The Demolition Man" also won heavyweight gold with PRIDE successor DREAM while finding considerable success in kickboxing, winning the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix before he joined the UFC to major fanfare in 2011 and stopped Brock Lesnar in the first round.
A failed drug test unfortunately kept Overeem from returning to the Octagon until early 2013, and after a mixed run of results he put together a four-fight win streak that earned him a matchup with UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic in 2016.
After Miocic knocked him out late in the first round, Overeem made 10 more appearances with the UFC and moved on from both the promotion and MMA in 2021 following a knockout-loss to Alexander Volkov.
Jimi Manuwa Only Went the Distance Twice in 23-Fight MMA Career
The matchup with Manuwa will be Overeem's first fight of any kind since GLORY Collision 4 in 2022, when he upset Badr Hari in his return to kickboxing before the result of that fight was overturned to a No Contest due to a failed drug test.
Also a veteran of the UFC, Manuwa collected four post-fight bonuses across 12 fights with the promotion and shared the Octagon with light heavyweight title challengers Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Johnson, Volkan Oezdemir, and Thiago Santos, as well as future light heavyweight titleholder Jan Bachowicz (twice).
Manuwa's UFC run and MMA career closed out in 2019 when a 47-second knockout against Aleksandar Raki left him on a four-fight skid, but the 46-year-old returned to action earlier this year at Duel Arena 1 and stopped fellow UFC veteran Chase Sherman in his boxing debut.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/mma as UFC & MMA Legend Ends 4-Year Layoff for Boxing Debut on Jake Paul Fight Card.