Cedric Doumbe Electrifies Crowd with Nine-Second KO in PFL Europe 3 Headliner

HOLY 🤬! DOUMBE WITH THE FINISH IN SECONDS!#PFLParis
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— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) September 30, 2023

Cedric Doumbe raised the bar for himself, perhaps exponentially.

The former Glory champion dazzled in his Professional Fighters League debut, as he punched out Jordan Zebo in the first round of their PFL Europe 3 headliner on Saturday at Zenith Paris La Villette in Paris. Zebo (4-1, 0-1 PFL) crashed and burned just nine seconds into Round 1, a ripple of shock-and-awe electricity rippling through the crowd.

Doumbe (5-0, 1-0 PFL) caught a head kick, countered with a leg kick and sent a blazing left hook crashing into his opponent’s face. Zebo collapsed and ate a right hook on his way down to the mat. A few hammerfists followed before referee Marc Goddard could arrive on the scene.

In the co-main event, former Brave Combat Federation titleholder Abdoul Abdouraguimov disposed of Brad Wheeler with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their encounter at a 180-pound catchweight. Wheeler (18-14, 0-1 PFL) raised the white flag of surrender 2:43 into Round 1.

Abdouraguimov (17-1, 1-0 PFL) followed a leg kick into the clinch and executed a trip takedown. He moved immediately to full mount, tuned up the ground-and-pound and floated between dominant positions. Abdouraguimov transitioned from an arm-triangle to the rear-naked choke, went palm-to-palm with his grip and tightened the squeeze until the job was done.

The 28-year-old Abdouraguimov has rattled off seven straight victories, all of them finishes. He plans to drop to lightweight for the 2024 PFL season.

Meanwhile, the surging Jakob Nedoh wiped out Team Tourcoing rep Anthony Salamone with punches in the first round of their light heavyweight semifinal. Nedoh (7-1, 2-0 PFL) brought it to a close 95 seconds into Round 1, extending his current winning streak to seven fights.

Salamone (8-2, 1-2 PFL) met the Slovenian brute with hooks from both hands, right uppercuts and an aggressive clinch. None of it mattered. Nedoh cut loose with a crushing one-two, as he decked his counterpart with a concussive overhand right. He pounced with punches and slammed the door with a violent volley of unanswered lefts.

Nedoh, 26, will battle Simeon Powell (9-0, 5-0 UFC)—a unanimous decision winner over Daniel Ladero Gartner (3-3, 0-2 PFL) in the other semifinal at 205 pounds—in the $100,000 light heavyweight final on Dec. 8.

Elsewhere, Manchester Top Team’s Dakota Ditcheva put away Cornelia Holm with punches in the third round of their women’s flyweight semifinal. Finished for just the second time in her 12-fight career, Holm (6-6, 1-1 PFL) checked out 2:55 into Round 3.

The 25-year-old Ditcheva (9-0, 4-0 PFL) blasted the lead leg with kicks, targeted the body with a variety of techniques and leaned on stellar takedown defense. She dazed Holm with an overhand right in the second round, scrambled to the back following a failed takedown and piled up points with modest ground-and-pound. It sent a stern message to the grappling-centric underdog. Ditcheva turned up the heat in the third, where she doubled over the Swede with a vicious straight left to the liver, sent her into a defensive shell with a right hook and prompted the stoppage.

Ditcheva will confront Valentina Scatizzi (2-1, 1-0 PFL)—who advanced with a walkover against Manuela Marconetto in the other semifinal at 125 pounds—in the $100,000 women’s flyweight final in December.

Further down the card, Xtreme Couture’s Khurshed Kakhorov overcame in inauspicious start to take a unanimous decision from previously undefeated former UAE Warriors champion Ali Taleb in their three-round bantamweight semifinal. Kakhorov (11-1, 2-0 PFL) carried all three scorecards: 29-28, 29-27 and 29-27.

Taleb (9-1, 2-1 PFL) fired the first significant salvo when he floored the ex-European Fight Masters titleholder with a right uppercut and moved on an attempted guillotine choke inside the first five minutes. Kakhorov weathered the storm, drew the Swede into deeper waters and let his skills do the rest. He buckled Taleb on multiple occasions with counter right hooks in Round 2, pinned him to the fence and nearly finished it with a follow-up burst of punches. Kakhorov stayed patient and disciplined down the stretch, chipped away with damaging leg kicks and completed a takedown with roughly 90 seconds to go in the match, tying a bow on his third straight victory.

Kakhorov will meet Frans Mlambo (15-5, 2-0 PFL)—a split decision winner over Moktar Benkaci (20-9, 0-2 PFL) in the other semifinal at 135 pounds—in the $100,000 bantamweight final on Dec. 8.

Finally, the unbeaten Jakub Kaszuba rode superior output to a unanimous decision over SBG Ireland product Dylan Tuke in their three-round lightweight semifinal. All three cageside judges scored it for Kaszuba (10-0, 2-0 PFL): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

Tuke (6-4, 1-1 PFL) was effective early on. He held his own in the clinch and made a significant move late in the first round, as he scrambled into top position, progressed to the back with a body triangle and threatened with a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds. Kaszuba was undeterred. The onetime Combat Night champion opened a serious cut on Tuke’s left eyebrow with a close-range knee strike in the second round and hit the accelerator in the third. There, Kaszuba staggered the Irishman with a right hand, followed it with a knee strike and secured a takedown. He spent the final 75 seconds in top position, applying his ground-and-pound and hunting positional advances.

Kaszuba will face John Mitchell (8-1, 2-0 PFL)—a unanimous decision winner over Geysim Derouiche (6-4, 0-2 PFL) in the other semifinal at 155 pounds—in the $100,000 lightweight final in December.

In other action, Yazid Chouchane (10-3, 1-0 PFL) was awarded a unanimous verdict against Henrique Madureira (6-3, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round lightweight pairing, earning 30-27 nods from all three members of the judiciary; Laureano Staropoli (13-5, 1-0 PFL) forced Boundjou Baba Nadjombe (7-5, 0-1 PFL) to quit on his stool in between the second and third rounds of their catchweight clash at 180 pounds; and Shanelle Dyer (3-0, 1-0 PFL) cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision over Luisa Cifuentes (4-3, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round women’s flyweight affair, sweeping the scorecards with matching 30-27 marks from the cageside judges.