Spoiler: Yoann Kongolo vs. Cedric Doumbe

These two fought in 2014 under Muay Thai rules and it ended with a decision Doumbe’s way. Kongolo bitterly disputed that result and so he jumped at the chance for a rematch with Doumbe under GLORY rules, even traveling to Doumbe’s native France to face him.

Things didn’t get off to the best of starts when Doumbe took a hard groin shot in the first ten seconds and briefly looked like the night might be over for him. But after a quick rest the fight restarted and Doumbe plowed a big knee into Kongolo’s midsection to let him know the wind had not been knocked out of him.

He followed that up with a stunning piece of evasion which drew huge applause from the crowd. Kongolo threw a hard and venomous head kick; Doumbe leaned back and let the kick fly past his face, missing by inches. It was an incredibly brave and skillful move which drew him high praise from the whole arena.

The move set the tone of the fight; Doumbe is a man with a lot of tricks in his bag, while Kongolo is a fighter of more solid fundamentals. Over the course of the bout Kongolo would do his best to trap Doumbe on the ropes and Doumbe would respond with masterpieces of evasion and blows from bewildering angles.

For all his tricks though Doumbe was having problems whenever he stayed still a second too long. Kongolo would land a hard cross or a hard left hook which would visibly rattle his French opponent. Doumbe had the magic but Kongolo had the power. A lot of their exchanges were tight, with no clear advantage for either, but in between that Kongolo landed enough shots to win the damage battle.

The fight went the distance and the judges saw the fight Kongolo’s way, though it was an impressive performance from Doumbe and he definitely won the crowd’s heart with his reflexes and repertoire of flashy techniques. Don’t be surprised to see him get another chance in GLORY. Kongolo has also signed an extended contract.

Afterwards Kongolo said, “I didn’t agree with the decision in the first fight and now I got the right decision in this fight and I like it even more because it happened in France. What’s next? I want the welterweight belt in GLORY, it is a dream for me to be fighting here.”

Yoann Kongolo def. Cedric Doumbe by Unanimous Decision, R3, (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)