Chael Sonnen Praises Jaleel Willis Ahead of Bellator Paris Clash with Cedric Doumbe

Chael Sonnen is one of the greatest heels in mixed martial arts history, but even he thinks Jaleel Willis is approaching dangerous territory.

Willis might be the most hated man in Paris by the time he squares off with French kickboxing phenom Cedric Doumbe at Accor Arena on May 17 in the Bellator Champions Series Paris co-main event. The Memphis native’s verbal jabs have been non-stop, much to the delight of the “American Gangster.”

Sonnen praised — albeit warned — Willis on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account Wednesday after Willis insulted the French fanbase’s MMA knowledge. Willis (16-5) criticized Doumbe’s (5-1) lack of cage time and implied his fans only support him because they know no better.

“When you call yourself a veteran, you’re calling the other guy inexperienced,” Sonnen said. “And with a guy like Cedric who has made that walk and maybe he hasn’t gotten in the cage and heard the door shut as many times, but he crawled between those ropes and knew what the risk was it is a massive insult.”

Sonnen added that he hasn’t seen a country’s disdain for an opponent since his own days in the cage.

“I know a thing or two about this,” he said. “I’ve gone down that road myself when trying to get heat with the guy’s own fans and they did not like it. It adds to the environment. Before I knew it I had to ride around in a bulletproof car with armed security. We are one small step from Jaleel being in that same car.”

While Doumbe has quickly become France’s most hyped MMA prospect, it’s been Willis who has added the spice to the Bellator Champions Series Paris co-headliner, which will stream live on HBO's Max app. Coming off a first-round knockout loss to Ramazan Kuramagomedov, Willis is slated to be the underdog against the former two-time Glory Kickboxing welterweight king, but “The Realest” says Doumbe is anything but the genuine article.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to peep when [someone is] worried about me,” Willis recently wrote on his Instagram stories. “Y’all keep hyping him up and on May 17 [I’m going to] bust his [motherfu--ing] head wide open.”

If Willis and Doumbe continue their back-and-forth, their grudge match could become one of the most intriguing matchups of the year. Doumbe’s out for blood and Willis is more than willing to help him find it.

“I have a feeling we’re going to be talking about this just as much when it’s over,” Sonnen said.