Cedric Doumbe out of PFL debut due to wrist injury
The PFL has to wait a little longer to debut one of its recent big-name signings.
The league announced Wednesday that kickboxing star Cedric Doumbe has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled debut, which was to take place against Jarrah Al-Silawi on June 23. Zach Juusola steps in to fight Al-Silawi as a replacement for Doumbe.
Doumbe took to social media to explain that the reason for his withdrawal is due to a wrist injury. See his video and statement below (translation via Doumbe).
Je reste positif et je reviens au plus vite ⏰ Jarrah a de la chance cette fois mais il ne peut pas se cacher. @pflmma c’est chez moi maintenant, alors je vais botter les fesses de tous ces poids welters … #ticTac ⏰ #PoignetMort #AlHamduliLlah pic.twitter.com/uP0JpZGttT
— Cédric Doumbè (@CedricDoumbe) June 7, 2023
“Now, we are training, we trained, we trained a lot. Everything was good. At the grappling training I don’t know why but my wrist hurt, I told myself it will heal. There’s always little injuries during the training camp. And then, at home I wasn’t able to move my wrist, it hurt me so bad. I waited two, three days to see if it would pass and the next day I was’nt able to use my wrist.
“So, I went to the doctor and he forbade me to fight. ‘You can fight but if you want to use only 20 percent of your abilities, that’s your problem.’ ... We’re gonna try to fight quickly, maybe this summer, September, or October.”
The PFL did not mention a possible return date for Doumbe, nor if it will attempt to reschedule him against Al-Silawi following Al-Silawi’s next fight.
Doumbe signed with the PFL earlier this year following a sterling kickboxing career that included two reigns as Glory Kickboxing welterweight champion. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Doumbe said that the offer he received from the league was ‘10 times’ that of an offer from the UFC.