Losene Keita Replaces Arnold Allen Against Aaron Pico at UFC 333
Losene Keita is jumping straight back in, stepping in to face Aaron Pico at UFC 333 after Arnold Allen was pulled from the featherweight bout.
The pairing is set for Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, less than seven weeks after Keita’s first UFC win.
MMA Fighting reported that Allen is out because he is still rehabbing from previous treatment and does not have enough time to be ready.
The withdrawal is not a new injury, and the hope inside the camp is that the Englishman can return before the end of the year.
Allen last fought in May, when he beat Melquizael Costa by decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 117.
That result kept him in the title mix at 145 pounds. The Pico fight was supposed to be another ranked test on a stacked Abu Dhabi card.
Pico stays on the show. The former Bellator standout is coming off his first UFC victory, a unanimous decision over Patricio Freire at UFC 327 in April.
His UFC debut went the other way. Lerone Murphy knocked him out with a spinning back elbow in the first round at UFC 319 in August 2025.
Pico is 14-5 overall and 1-1 in the UFC. He has been listed around No. 12 or No. 13 in the featherweight rankings, which is why the Allen matchup carried so much weight.
Keita changes the assignment. The Belgian is 17-2 as a professional and 1-1 in the UFC after a first-round knockout of Muhammadjon Naimov on Sept. 5 in Paris.
He dropped Naimov with a right hand at 2:54 and earned Performance of the Night. That finish came after a split-decision loss to Nathaniel Wood in his promotional debut in London in March.
Keita arrived from Oktagon MMA, where he became the first fighter to hold the promotion’s featherweight and lightweight titles at the same time.
Eleven of his 17 wins have come by knockout or TKO. He does not have a submission victory on his record.
The short turnaround is the story as much as the names. Paris was Sept. 5. Abu Dhabi is Oct. 24.
That is a five-week window to take a ranked, finishing-minded opponent in a different time zone after a bonus-winning knockout.
Keita’s first UFC booking was even bumpier. A planned debut against Freire was canceled when he missed weight, and Wood became the replacement assignment that did not go his way.
A win over Pico would be a different kind of statement. It would give him two UFC victories in two months and put him in the conversation Allen was supposed to occupy.
A loss would drop him to 1-2 in the Octagon against a fighter who has already beaten a former Bellator champion in Freire.
UFC 333 is built around two title fights. Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight championship against Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan meets Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight title trilogy.
Keita-Pico now sits on that same Abu Dhabi lineup as a high-risk featherweight scrap between two men coming off wins.
Pico wanted Allen. He is getting a late replacement who just scored a walk-off knockout and is willing to fight again immediately.
Keita wanted another look after Paris. He is getting a ranked opponent instead of a standard follow-up.
The UFC has not posted a formal graphic on every platform, but multiple outlets confirmed the change on Friday.
If the bout holds, both men walk into Etihad Arena with something to prove and very little time to waste.