Paul Offers a Purse Bet After Doumbé's Retirement Pledge in Dubai

Cédric Doumbé said Thursday he would retire if he loses to Jake Paul on Christmas Eve. Paul, who made the same pledge in Paris two days earlier, said he would rather put the purses on the line.

Most Valuable Promotions held the second kickoff press conference for their Dec. 24 fight on Thursday in Dubai, starting at 6 p.m. GST (6 a.m. PT). The bout remains a professionally sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight at 200 pounds with 10-ounce gloves, at Coca-Cola Arena.

In official MVP video from the session, Paul laid out a side bet he wanted in a contract: if he wins, he gets Doumbé's entire purse; if Doumbé wins, Paul pays him double.

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Doumbé's first answer was not about money. "If you win, I retire," he said, a line also reported by the Dutch newspaper AD. That matches the retirement pledge Paul made at the Paris kickoff on Tuesday.

Paul kept pushing the purse terms. "No, let's like put money behind it, not just retire, because no one cares about you retiring," he said. "And I didn't even know you existed before this. No one in America knows who the fuck you are. My dog has more followers than you on Instagram."

He came back to the offer and asked, "Deal or no deal." Later in the same exchange, he said they would "sign it into a contract." MVP has not announced that any such side agreement has been signed.

We covered the Paris kickoff, where Paul first said he would retire if he lost, in our Nov. 10 story. Thursday's session in Dubai also included the unveiling of a six-round heavyweight boxing bout between Alistair Overeem and Jimi Manuwa on the same Christmas Eve card, which MVP confirmed in a release that morning.

Two retirement pledges in three days do not make either man more likely to walk away. The more concrete wrinkle is the purse challenge, and only if they actually sign it. The fight itself is unchanged: Paul vs. Doumbé, Thursday, Dec. 24, in Dubai. If you have a round in mind, you can log it in Fight Picker once the bout is up. For the original booking, start with our report from when the fight became official.