Doumbe dominates Lidon, does not win crowd over

A war of words preceded the GLORY 47 LYON co-main event showdown between Paris-based former GLORY welterweight champion Cedric Doumbe and Lyon’s hometown hero Yohan Lidon. 

The 34-year-old Lidon has a 15-year professional career behind him, during which he has won numerous titles and championships. His official bio declares him to be a 17-time world champion.

Doumbe took issue with this in the build-up to this fight. “Wow, 17 world titles, really? Amazing. GLORY does not deserve him. He is too good. Tell me - if he has 17 world titles, why has nobody heard of him?

“It annoys me when fighters talk like this. There is only one real world champion, the GLORY belt is the only one that matters. I am going to show him what a real champion is.”

Lidon shrugged the comments off. “Doumbe is a clown, he is a dancer. All he is good for is talking,” he said. 

The stage thus being set, all that was left was for the two to meet in the ring and make their arguments in a more forceful way. And over three rounds, to the dismay of Lidon’s large and vocal crowd of supporters, Doumbe proved to be by far the most articulate.

Doumbe did not impress in his GLORY 44 loss to Murthel Groenhart (who to be fair also did not impress; it was a scrappy fight) but in tonight’s fight he was on superb form. Few fighters combine entertainment and martial skill the way that Doumbe can.

Early in the fight it became apparent that Lidon did not have the speed or trickery that is needed to handle Doumbe. He gamely pressed forwards throughout the fight but Doumbe was always a step ahead of him.

Sometimes Lidon would find himself hitting empty air that was previously occupied by Doumbe, who was now somewhere behind him. On other occasions he would fall short and be greeted by the spectacle of Doumbe dancing and showboating in response. 

It was a frustrating fight for Lidon and his relationship with Doumbe was no better after three rounds than it had been before the fight. The two did not touch gloves at the start of the fight and barely acknowledged each other after the final bell.

Lidon’s fans did acknowledge Doumbe thogh, loudly booing him when the decision was announced in his favor and then booing him heartily again when he mounted the corner post to celebrate his win. Doumbe lapped it up.

He now turns his attention back to the welterweight title. He called for a rematch with Groenhart and said that next time, he will score a decisive win and get his belt back. In the meantime he returns to the training room in Paris, leaving behind some broken hearts in Lyon.

Cedric Doumbe def. Yohan Lidon, Unanimous Decision, R3 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)