MVP Adds Overeem vs. Manuwa to Paul vs. Doumbé Dubai Card

Most Valuable Promotions has added a six-round heavyweight boxing bout between Alistair Overeem and Jimi Manuwa to the Jake Paul vs. Cédric Doumbé Christmas Eve card in Dubai. The matchup was unveiled Thursday at MVP's Dubai press conference and confirmed in a release that reached Boxbid at 6:45 a.m. PT. MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian announced the bout to close the press conference, and Overeem and Manuwa faced off on stage at New Covent Garden Theatre.

The fight is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 24, at Coca-Cola Arena, on the same show as Paul vs. Doumbé, an eight-round cruiserweight. Overeem, the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix winner, will make his professional boxing debut. Manuwa, a former UFC light heavyweight contender, is 1-0 as a pro boxer. MVP lists Overeem's MMA record as 47-19 with 25 knockouts and 17 submissions, and Manuwa's as 17-6 with 15 knockouts and one submission, plus the boxing win. Tickets for the card go on sale Sunday, Nov. 15, at 12 p.m. GST (9 a.m. CET), with a presale beginning Saturday, Nov. 14, at the same hour.

MVP said Overeem, 46 and now based in Dubai, last competed in GLORY kickboxing in October 2022. That was Glory Collision 4 in Arnhem on Oct. 8, 2022, against Badr Hari. Overeem won a unanimous decision that was later overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance. Ariel Helwani wrote Thursday that the Dubai bout would be Overeem's "first fight of any kind since Feb. 2021." February 2021 was Overeem's last MMA appearance, a second-round TKO loss to Alexander Volkov; it was not his last fight of any kind. The Dutch newspaper AD, like the MVP release, dated the comeback to the Hari fight.

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Manuwa, also 46, returned in August and stopped former UFC heavyweight Chase Sherman in the second round on Aug. 29 at the Kia Center in Orlando, a result confirmed by the Florida Athletic Commission.

In the MVP release, Overeem said he was "not here to make up the numbers" and that "once I stop Jimi, Rico Verhoeven is next on my hit list." Manuwa said he had watched Overeem "since I was coming up" and wanted the fight after Orlando: "On Christmas Eve, one of us is going to sleep, and it's not going to be me." AD independently reported those remarks in substance.

We covered Thursday's Paul-Doumbé press conference, including a purse-bet challenge, in a separate story, and the Paris kickoff two days earlier here. The main event itself is unchanged. If you have a round in mind, you can log it in Fight Picker once the bout is up.