Belgium’s Losene Keita, who captured championships at featherweight and lightweight for the OKTAGON MMA promotion in Europe, has announced today that he has signed with the UFC.
He officially broke his news via a video on his social media channels, as he acted out a host of scenarios where people continually asked him when he was joining the UFC.
Eventually, he sat down on his sofa and called his manager, telling him, “I think it’s time,” before turning to address the camera.
“Hey guys. I just signed with the UFC,” he said.
“I’ve already conquered Europe. Now it’s time to conquer the world.”
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Keita joined OKTAGON MMA in late 2021 and knocked out Karol Rysavy on his promotional debut at OKTAGON 29. That win saw him earn a shot at the interim lightweight title, and he outpointed Ronald Paradeiser at OKTAGON 31 to capture championship gold.
He then upgraded that title to the full version when he finished champion Ivan Buchinger in the first round at OKTAGON 33 to become the promotion’s sole 155-pound champ.
Keita went on to eventually add another title to his resumé when he stopped Jakub Tichota in the fourth round to claim the interim featherweight crown, but his bid to capture the full version of the title ended in disaster as he suffered a foot injury 68 seconds into his bout with Mate Sanikidze at OKTAGON 45. Remarkably, Keita returned five months later at OKTAGON 50 and stopped Niko Samsonidse for the vacant 145-pound title as he became a two-division OKTAGON champion.
2024 saw Keita enter himself into the Tipsport Gamechanger, OKTAGON’s €1 million tournament, and defeated former Cage Warriors lightweight champion Agy Sardari, Slovakian contender Predrag Bogdanovic and former OKTAGON lightweight champion Mateusz Legierski to reach the tournament finale, where he faced Paradeiser once again, this time with the lightweight title and the tournament title on the line.
This time, Keita didn’t need the judges’ involvement as he finished Paradeiser with strikes late in the second round to put himself in a class of his own in OKTAGON’s 155-pound division.
Despite his dominance at 155 pounds, it looks likely that Keita will embark on his UFC career as a featherweight.
