Losene Keita started watching MMA late, back when he dreamed of a Bellator European Series card and Aaron Pico was the face the promotion kept putting on highlight reels. On Saturday at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, the Belgian fights that same man on the main card, and he isn’t approaching him like a fan anymore.
“He had his highlights, his crazy highlights. I’m like, ‘Whoa, that guy is crazy.’ Now I’m facing him,” Keita told MMA Junkie on Tuesday.
The admiration only goes so far. Keita (17-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) told the outlet he believes he beats Pico in every department, wrestling included. “I really believe 100 percent that I’m better than him in every aspect, even his wrestling, even his grappling, striking, kickboxing, boxing,” he said. He acknowledged that Pico has the credentials of an Olympic-level wrestler, then waved it off: “This is the cage. It’s different wrestling.”
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How the fight came together
This wasn’t the booking Pico (14-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) wanted. According to MMA Junkie, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling turned him down, and No. 6 featherweight Arnold Allen withdrew for health reasons about a month out. Keita jumped in days after his knockout of Mohammad Naimov in Paris in September. He had called out Lerone Murphy after that win, then asked for the winner of Pico vs. Allen as a fallback, so the short-notice call didn’t need much thinking. His answer, he said, was let’s go.
Pico sounded unbothered by the change. “I’m a warrior, and I’ve got to fight anybody that they put in front of me,” he told MMA Junkie, adding that a win puts him “one step closer to winning a championship with this victory.” He also mentioned that he turned 30 in September and no longer carries the pressure he felt as the teenage blue-chipper Bellator signed out of amateur wrestling.
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Both men are 1-1 in the UFC. Pico was knocked out in the first round by Murphy in his UFC 319 debut, then beat Patricio Freire by unanimous decision at UFC 327 in Miami on April 11. Keita, a former two-division Oktagon champion, dropped a quiet debut to Nathaniel Wood before the Naimov finish.
The odds and the knock on each guy
FanDuel has Keita at -125 and Pico at +100. MMA Mania’s preview picked Keita by early knockout, arguing that Pico froze for split seconds when Freire tagged him in the first round and that Keita is taller and longer. The same preview noted that Pico is actually two years older than Keita. The criticism runs the other way too, with questions about Keita’s takedown defense. Keita told MMA Junkie he’s heard it and doesn’t put much stock in it, saying his real specialty is getting back to his feet, in the cage and in life.
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My take: Keita has earned a ranked opponent, but 1-1 with one big knockout is a résumé, and a hype train needs more than that. Dismissing Pico’s wrestling out loud is the boldest thing he’s said all week. If Pico shoots early and keeps his chin out of the pocket, that line gets tested in the first five minutes. If Pico gets drawn into a brawl, Keita probably ends it. The cage door closes Saturday, Oct. 24, at Etihad Arena.
