Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita is now on the main card of UFC 333 on Saturday 24 October at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Keita replaces Arnold Allen, who withdrew from the featherweight bout, according to a report from MMA Fighting's Mike Heck. Pico is ranked 14th at featherweight in our data. Keita is unranked, so the fight is not a step up the ladder in the usual sense.
How Pico vs. Keita came together
Pico was originally scheduled to face Allen, who is ranked sixth at featherweight in our rankings. MMA Fighting reported that Allen is out through injury, not a new one, and that he did not have the proper time to rehab from prior medical treatments. Keita took the fight on short notice, coming off his first-round stoppage win in September.
A late change is not new for Pico. His 2025 fight with Murphy also came together after Evloev withdrew with an injury, as Yahoo Sports noted.
Pico told MMA Junkie: "I'm a warrior, and I've got to fight anybody that they put in front of me." UFC 333 is headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev, and the card takes place in Abu Dhabi.
Aaron Pico: record and recent run
Pico is 14-5 and nine of his 14 wins came by knockout or technical knockout, with two more by submission and three by decision. That is 11 finishes in 14 wins.
His UFC run has been uneven. On 16 August 2025 at UFC 319 he lost by first-round knockout to Lerone Murphy. He returned on 11 April 2026 at UFC 327 and beat Patrício Pitbull by decision, his first win in the UFC. Before that, his last wins came in the first round against Henry Corrales in February 2024 and Pedro Carvalho in September 2023.
Losene Keita: UFC record and the Naimov knockout
Keita is 17-2 and a former OKTAGON lightweight champion. Our data shows he beat Ronald Paradeiser by technical knockout in the fifth round at OKTAGON 65 in December 2024. Eleven of his 17 wins came by knockout or technical knockout, and the other six went the distance.
His UFC record is 1-1. He lost a decision to Nathaniel Wood at UFC Fight Night in March 2026, then stopped Muhammad Naimov in the first round at UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs. Parnasse on 5 September. Yahoo Sports reported the win in Paris earned him a performance bonus. Both men are 1-1 in the UFC going into this fight.
What a win changes at featherweight
For Pico, beating an unranked opponent would not by itself move him far, but a second straight win would be the first time he strings two together in the UFC, and it would come against a fighter with a high knockout rate. A loss would be his second in three UFC fights and would put the ranking he earned against Pitbull at risk.
For Keita, the stakes are larger on paper. A win over a ranked fighter, on short notice, would take him from an unranked newcomer into the conversation at 145 pounds in only his third UFC fight. The division is busy with the champion about to defend against Evloev on the same card, so the rankings behind the title fight are likely to shift after Saturday.
Quick answers
- Who replaced Arnold Allen at UFC 333? Losene Keita.
- When is Pico vs. Keita? Saturday 24 October, on the main card at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
- Is Aaron Pico ranked? Yes, 14th at featherweight in our data. Other outlets list him at 12th or 13th, depending on the ranking used.
- What is Losene Keita's record? 17-2 overall and 1-1 in the UFC. He is not ranked.
Pugna MMA will have the result and updated records after the card.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.