Darren Till explains why he's not fighting Jake Paul and leaks contract negotiations in live interview

Darren Till has blasted Jake Paul as a "fraud" for fighting Cedric Doumbe after he had already "agreed" to fight the American later this year.

On Monday (November 2), Paul announced he will take on Doumbe, a French mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 24.

The 29-year-old will step into the ring for the first time since suffering a brutal sixth-round defeat to Anthony Joshua after being rumoured to fight Till.

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Darren Till confirms he had 'agreed' to fight Jake Paul

When Paul announced his return to boxing last month, Till was among several names identified as a potential opponent, with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder Nakisa Bidarian confirming that discussions were underway for a possible fight.

After being released from the UFC following a submission loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 in December 2022, Till has been highly successful in other combat sports, securing a brutal KO win over Luke Rockhold in boxing and two victories in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) - the most recent coming against Yoel Romero at BKFC 94 in September.

But the 33-year-old wanted to elevate his profile in boxing by fighting Paul, confirming that "negotiations were going well" and that they had "agreed" on a price before the YouTuber-turned-boxer announced his clash against Doumbe.

"From what I'm gathering, negotiations were going well. I think we agreed on a price... I thought we were all good to go. I've been in camp for the past two weeks with my coach," a furious Till said on the Ariel Helwani Show.

"And out of nowhere, this f***ing fight gets announced with Cédric Doumbé. I don't think anyone outside of his own household even knows who he is."

He continued his rant by blasting Paul and his business partner, Bidarian, as a "fraud" for wasting his time.

"Jake probably just wants to see how his jaw's holding up against someone who weighs about 150 pounds on a good day," Till said.

"It's just a fraudulent show. Jake's a fraud. Nakisa's a little fraud, wasting my time.

Typically, Paul likes to pick opponents who are smaller in stature than the former UFC welterweight title challenger - who stands at 6'0" and weighs around 185 to 189 lbs - while Doumbe is 5’8″ and usually competes at 170lbs.

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Who is Cedric Doumbe?

Paul's clash against Doumbe will be a professionally sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight bout with the fighters using 10oz gloves.

Cameroonian-born Frenchman Doumbe is a multi-time kickboxing world champion-turned-MMA fighter.

The 34-year-old is signed to the PFL, an MMA promotion that Paul's MVP merged with in July, so it makes perfect sense that the pair are coming together in the ring.

Doumbe has won two of his three fights since joining the PFL in 2023, though he only has one professional boxing fight to his name, securing victory against Mohamed Fodil in April 2015.

Paul, meanwhile, has won 12 of his 14 bouts as a professional, with his only defeats coming against Tommy Fury and Joshua.