Doumbé: “Nabiyev will have no time for play against me”

Former welterweight champion Cedric Doumbé (68-5-1, 39 KO’s) goes into next week’s GLORY 51 ROTTERDAM showdown with Alim Nabiyev (48-6, 21 KO’s) promising that he will be fighting “every minute of every round”.

The fight is a welterweight title shot eliminator, with the winner going forward to face Harut Grigorian, who won the belt from Murthel Groenhart in the main event of GLORY 50 CHICAGO this past weekend.

Comparisons have been drawn between the respective styles of Doumbé and Nabiyev, with both having a flair for showboating and showmanship, but the former champion doesn’t think they are exactly alike.

“Nabiyev is a good fighter. He has a strange style, but he is not too bad. But I think he cannot do that so much against me. He is not strong enough to hope to beat me,” says ‘Doumced’.

“He is a tricky fighter but he is not like me. Inside the ring I feel very confident, I feel like home. But he acts like he’s in a circus, like a real clown. Sometimes I play with the opponent but I fight, I never just dance, which is something he does. 

So we are not the same and it’s not going to be the same game. I will step in the ring and if he wants to dance he can try to dance - but I won’t let him. I will fight every minute of every round. There will be no time for play.”

Doumbé watched Grigorian win the belt in Chicago at the weekend and professes himself delighted that the title is no longer with Groenhart, who took it from Doumbé via split-decision at GLORY 44 CHICAGO last year.

“We all know that Murthel is a cheater,” says Doumbé, referencing Groenhart’s infamous KO of Grigorian at GLORY 42 PARIS last summer.  

“I hoped for everybody that Harut would kick his ass. Of course I was going for Harut. He is a friend but I would be glad to fight him. It’s OK to fight a friend because then you can make a good fighter and not a cheater fight!” 

GLORY 51 ROTTERDAM takes place Saturday, March 3 at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Doumbé and Nabiyev headlined the Superfight Series section of the card, which streams live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on Saturday, March, 3.