Losene Keita explained why the Octagon is the best organization in Europe. But what did it do wrong?

Losene Keita is close to extraordinary success. The 25-year-old Belgian is on a 9:0 streak in professional MMA and will fight for his 10th win against Samuel Barko on Saturday in Munich. But this time in a lower weight class.

The first ever featherweight bout. How was the build-up to the fight?

Yes, it’s my first fight at this weight, I’m always moving between 74 and 75, I’m a small lightweight so it’s not too difficult.

Did you deal with the organization and the title fight in this weight class? After all, you’re the lightweight champion, so you must have imagined that you wouldn’t have to test yourself at the lower weight..

The organization hasn’t offered me anything like that yet, but I have a featherweight fight coming up and I’m sure my next fight in that weight class will be for the title. In my opinion, I should have been preferred to Tichota. Now I have a quality fighter in front of me that I have to beat and prove them wrong.

After the last fight there was talk of Villa or Kohout being next. Will those fights happen in the future?

Villa said after the last fight that he would like to fight me and then completely turned around later. I don’t think he would have been able to make weight because the Munich tournament is too early, plus he was supposed to have an injury…

I don’t know that much about Kohout, but if he wants to fight me, he can. As well as anyone else. I’m not the type of champion to pick and choose.

There’s a lot of talk about your rematch with Paradeiser. He’ll be fighting in Munich just like you. Will you give him a chance if you win?

A fight with him could definitely happen. We both know what to expect from each other. I was sick in the first fight, it wasn’t the best day, but it was still no problem to not beat the champion.

With all due respect to his talent, I don’t need a rematch with him, but I’m the champion and if I get a fight with him, it will happen.

It’s good money, but I have to think about my career. I’m not very big, unlike the others. I used to wrestle at higher weights, but I’m not that crazy anymore (smile).

Who do you see as the favourite in this tournament? The bookmakers trust Kozma and Hathaway the most.

I don’t have a clear favorite here. There are a lot of fighters in Gamechanger that people don’t know, and I expect some big surprises for them.

You had “only” two MMA fights in 2022, can we look forward to a bigger batch of fights this year? What are actually your goals for 2023?

I only had two fights, but they were really big and challenging. I believe this year will be a breakthrough year for me, I train hard and I want to achieve many things. I can’t wait for it.

In hindsight, how do you feel about the experience of playing Pales? You defeated a world standout in a fight under rules that should have suited him more… And how do you feel that the Octagon allows such things and you can try something new?

That to me is actually the biggest reason why Oktagon is the best organization in Europe. I was able to measure my skills against Pales and it’s a blessing for me that it happened and that I was able to beat him.

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