One of the most highly-touted fighters in MMA will officially step into the Octagon for the first time in a massive fight at UFC Paris.
Long considered to be arguably the sport’s top prospect outside of the UFC, Losene Keita established himself as a major star during a 12-fight run with Oktagon MMA that saw the 27-year-old claims belts in two different weight classes.
Following an initial report that Keita had finally signed with the UFC last week, the promotion has confirmed that “Black Panther” will make his debut against Patricio Pitbull in just two weeks’ time on September 6.
The UFC is set for rare off-week following this weekend’s return to Shanghai that saw Johnny Walker upset Chinese juggernaut Mingyang Zhang in the night’s main event, and on September 6 the world’s leading MMA promotion heads back to the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
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UFC Paris is headlined by a possible middleweight title eliminator between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho, and it also features plenty other high-profile fights like the co-main event between France’s Benoit Saint-Denis and Mauricio Ruffy.
🚨 OFFICIEL 🚨
Losene Keita fera ses débuts face à Patricio Pitbull le 6 septembre à l’#UFCParis ! pic.twitter.com/zRbUfncmyJ
— UFC France (@UFCFRA) August 23, 2025
The card is also loaded with European talent, and Keita is set to join Ante Delija, Robert Ruchala, and Robert Bryczek as proven MMA veterans that will be making their respective debuts in Paris.
Keita’s lone setback during his MMA career was a 2023 title defense against Mate Sanikidze at Oktagon 25 that ended in just over a minute due to a foot injury. Later that year, “Black Panther” returned at Oktagon 50 and reclaimed the featherweight belt with a second-round finish against Niko Samonidse.
The 27-year-old followed that up with three-straight wins at 155 lbs. to earn a lightweight title shot at Oktagon 56, where Keita stopped longtime Oktagon MMA veteran Ronal Paradeiser to become a two-division champion.
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Also a former two-division champion (and three-division title challenger), Bellator star Pitbull famously joined the ranks of the UFC earlier this year but came up short in his highly-anticipated promotional debut against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.
Dan Ige (red gloves) fights against Patricio Pitbull (blue gloves) during UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
The Brazilian secured his first Octagon win when he took a unanimous decision over Dan Ige at UFC 318, and Pitbull will look to spoil Keita’s debut and start to build a bit of momentum when the two featherweights meet on a UFC Paris card that now looks like this:
• Main Event: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho
• Co-Main Event: Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Mauricio Ruffy
• Bolaji Oki vs. Mason Jones
• Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig
• Fares Ziam vs. Kaue Fernandes
• Patricio Pitbull vs. Losene Keita
• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Andreas Gustafsson
• Oumar Sy vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
• Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija
• William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchala
• Sam Patterson vs. Trey Waters
• Brad Tavares vs. Robert Bryczek
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