If Losene Keita was banking on his opponent shrugging his shoulders, taking a bit of his paycheck, then rolling out to the faceoffs later in the afternoon, he had another thing coming Friday.
Keita (16-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) signed with the UFC earlier this year as the Oktagon MMA lightweight champion. His promotional debut was a big one against former two-division Bellator champion Patricio Freire (37-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to open up the main card at UFC Fight Night 258 (ESPN+) on Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris.
But Friday, Keita missed weight by three pounds. Rather than take the fight anyway, along with a percentage of Keita’s purse (likely 20 percent to 30 percent), “Pitbull,” who turned 38 two months ago, called no joy.
And with that, his third fight in the UFC was off, and Keita, who is based in Belgium, was not just short of a percentage of his purse – he was short the whole thing. 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.
“He said in an interview that he was faster, stronger, younger,” Freire said. “I gave him all these advantages, in addition to allowing this fight to be here in Paris. It only took him two hours to get there by car, so he didn’t have any trouble. His weight was low. He arrived weighing 74 kg (163 pounds), just like I did, and he didn’t make weight. Our division, its limit is 145 pounds, and the commissions still let us hit a pound above, which is 146. So, besides going over the 146 limit, he didn’t hit 147, 148 – he’s at 149 pounds.
“So, since I gave him all the advantages, besides the time zone, he doesn’t have jet lag, problems with sleep adaptation, which we call acclimatization, right? We have to arrive a little earlier to get used to the weather here. All the advantages, he had. Even so, he didn’t make weight, so I wasn’t going to give him that advantage. He was more than a kilo heavier than me.”
Keita, 27, has won five straight fights and has 10 of his 16 wins by knockout. He was a slight betting favorite in the fight against the former featherweight and lightweight champ in Bellator.
Freire was one of the most highly coveted free agent signings in UFC history when he came over from Bellator after the PFL shuttered the promotion. He stumbled out of the gate against Yair Rodriguez, but rebounded in July with a win over Dan Ige.
Freire held Bellator titles in two divisions and in mid-2023, he even dropped to bantamweight to take a shot at Sergio Pettis’ title, but fell short. That would’ve been a massive win for his legacy, which he said is a key component of why he turned down Keita at a new weight.
“When it comes to (my career), I no longer fight for money – I fight for legacy,” Freire said. “I’m not going to give this guy that advantage. Unfortunately, the fight will not happen. I came ready, I did my job, I’m a professional. I never stopped making weight. He has a video, I’ll release it in full later. He apologized and said he didn’t have much time.
“I’m absolutely sure he didn’t try (to keep cutting weight). … It was 9 o’clock in the morning, He arrived at the commission, weighed himself, and instead of trying until 11 o’clock, which is the (time) limit, the guy went to eat banana puree, bro. Baby food. Go f*ck yourself, man. So if you want to blame someone, blame my opponent.”
Subsequently, “Pitbull” posted on his own social media and said he wants to fight at home now, in Rio de Janeiro, when the UFC returns to Brazil this fall.
