Europe

MMA star Losene Keita has little interest in the UFC: “Why throw it away just because of the name”

Published

January 30, 2024

Losene Keita. Photo via Instagram (@keitaplusser)

OKTAGON MMA star Losene “Black Panther” Keita is a huge name on the European MMA scene. He will return to action on March 2, 2024, competing in OKTAGON’s $1 million lightweight tournament with the likes of Swedish finisher Sahil Siraj and UFC veteran Makwan Amirkhani.

A super talent like Keita could make a name for himself in any organization but feels like OKTAGON is his home.

“Oktagon is not a small organization like they fill arenas with 20,000 people. Like imagine going into the arena with 20,000 people singing your name, it is crazy, you know,” Keita said in a recent interview with MMA Mania. “I’m getting paid well also, you know, they treat me well and they give me a lot of opportunities. I know going into the UFC, I would start my career with $12,00/12,00 because I’m a nobody there.”

“I’m 26 years old, I’m financially stable, all of this. Why throw it away just because of the name of the UFC? UFC is still the dream, but I don’t think I need it now.”

Losene Keita: “I was street fighting a lot and went to prison”

Losene Keita had a bit of trouble growing up, frequently involved in street fights a lot and even ending up in jail.

“Just to make the story short, I went to prison, and when I was free from prison, one friend said to me come to the gym, come to the gym to train,” Keita said. “I didn’t want to because I was like in our family nobody is a fighter. Fighting is not popular in my family. You know, my brothers were playing basketball and at that time I was playing soccer or football.”

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