Newly-crowned Oktagon lightweight champion Losene Keita is wasting no time in getting his name out there after his impressive title-winning performance at Oktagon 33 earlier this month.
Keita produced a blistering performance to stop former two-division champion Ivan Buchinger and unify the Oktagon lightweight titles in Frankfurt, Germany.
And, while he is ready to defend his title at a future Oktagon MMA event, Keita already has his sights set on the UFC.
Speaking to James Lynch about how he feels he stacks up against the UFC’s crop of 155-pound prospects, Keita singled out one name as a potential target, former Cage Warriors champion Paddy Pimblett.
“Like I tell you, me against Paddy, I’m going to beat that guy,” he declared.
“No joke. I’m going to beat ‘The Baddy.’ you know?”
But while Keita may have identified Pimblett as a possible opponent further down the line, the Belgian said he’s ready for anyone the UFC could throw at him.
“I want to fight everybody,” he said.
“I don’t want to go to the UFC and win some, lose some. I don’t want to do that. I want to be the champ.
“I train hard to be the champ and I really want to be the champ. Until now, I’ve never said no to an opponent.”
Keita may have to add some more wins to his record before earning a shot in the UFC, but he’s clearly in confident mood after facing off, and defeating, a man who previously shared the cage with a host of UFC-calibre athletes, including Conor McGregor, Mairbek Taisumov and Stevie Ray. And the undefeated Belgian hinted that he was already firmly on the UFC radar after his recent championship success.
“Yeah, of course they know about me, (but) I cannot talk about that now,” he said, intriguingly.
“But I can tell you every fighter’s dream is to go to the UFC. So of course I’m interested in the UFC, I want to fight in the UFC like every other fighter. But for me now, I’m Oktagon champion.”
