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It’s the MMA, and the UFC, so the only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain.
But if Losene Keita is looking for some kind of clue about his future in the promotion, he might have breathed a short sigh of relief Saturday after UFC Fight Night 258.
Keita (16-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) signed with the UFC earlier this year as the Oktagon MMA lightweight champion. He was set to fight former two-division Bellator champion Patricio Freire (37-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to open up the main card at Accor Arena in Paris.
But Keita missed weight by three pounds at 149, and rather than take the fight at a catchweight, along with a percentage of Keita’s purse, “Pitbull” Freire turned down the fight and cited Keita’s alleged decision to stop cutting weight with several hours to go.
Keita said he was “devastated” with the weight miss and said he’s never missed in his career, including at featherweight. He said he hopes the UFC will give him another chance, and after the event, David Shaw, the promotion’s senior vice president of international operations, said he thinks Keita will get another shot at a future in the UFC.
“I believe he does. Honestly, I don’t know the specifics. I think a few of us were surprised the fight didn’t happen, but in any case, it’s going to be good to have him on the roster,” Shaw told media members after UFC Paris. “(He hasn’t been cut) – not that I know of.”
Keita is based in Belgium. Freire told the UFC he already had given Keita enough advantages by traveling to Europe from Brazil, and his lack of professionalism missing weight sealed the deal. Freire is a former Bellator two-division champion at featherweight and lightweight. After years in Bellator, and regarded as that former promotion’s all-time greatest fighter, “Pitbull” came to the UFC earlier this year after asking for his release from the PFL, which bought Bellator and shuttered it.
