Retour
Losene Keita is remaining positive after a disappointing result in Abu Dhabi.
The UFC’s latest numbered event featured a number of brutal finishes and first-round knockouts, the quickest of which was delivered by Aaron Pico.
On the undercard of Alexander Volkanovski’s title defense against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333, the former Bellator fighter needed just 74 seconds to stop Keita.
While the American continues his push up the featherweight ladder, ‘Black Panther’ has been left analyzing what went wrong for him inside the Etihad Arena.
Keita was looking to build on his momentum in the UFC after a memorable performance in Paris this past September.
Before accepting the relatively short-notice bout with Pico, Keita knocked out Muhammad Naimov in one round to record his first victory inside the Octagon.
Unlike at UFC Paris, there was no unique celebration opportunity for the Guinean-born Belgian star at UFC 333. Instead, he was left remonstrating with the referee after he stepped in to stop Pico’s onslaught of strikes after just 74 seconds.
Keita reacted to the loss on social media a few days later and seemed to be keeping his head up despite the difficult setback.
“No grand speeches. I know where I screwed up and I’m going to learn from it, back to the grind,” Keita wrote on X.
“Thanks for the support ❤️ and congrats to Pico,” he added.
Keita arrived in the UFC with a lot of hype, having impressed in Europe with two-division title success under the Oktagon MMA banner.
At the age of 28, ‘Black Panther’ still has plenty of time to live up to his promise on MMA’s biggest stage.
For now, though, it is Pico’s time to make a charge toward the UFC featherweight title.