Losene Keita Scores Walk-Off Knockout of Muhammad Naimov at UFC Paris
Losene Keita needed one right hand and 2:54 of the first round to get his first UFC win. The Belgian featherweight knocked out Muhammad Naimov on Saturday at UFC Paris, then walked off as Accor Arena came up around him.
The official result was a knockout by punch at 2:54 of Round 1 on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs. Parnasse. The promotion posted the finish as a walk-off knockout.
Keita entered 16-2 and 0-1 in the UFC. Naimov came in 13-4 and 5-2 inside the Octagon.
The 28-year-old from Kortrijk, Belgium, fights as the Black Panther. He was born in Conakry, Guinea, holds Belgian and French nationality, and trains at Lamiro Fight Club.
His first trip to this building did not go as planned. He weighed in at 149 pounds for a scheduled debut against Patricio Pitbull at UFC Paris on Sept. 6, 2025, three pounds over the non-title featherweight limit, and the bout was canceled.
He finally debuted on March 21 in London and dropped a split decision to Nathaniel Wood. The cards read 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.
Wood beat him in a close fight, then entered Saturday ranked No. 8 at featherweight. On the Paris prelims earlier in the night, Pavel Andrusca outpointed Wood by unanimous decision.
Keita arrived in the UFC as a former two-division Oktagon MMA champion. He held the lightweight title twice and the featherweight title once, and he won Oktagon’s 2024 lightweight tournament.
Ten of his 16 wins before Paris had come by knockout or TKO. Saturday made it 11.
His only previous knockout loss was a first-round stoppage against Mate Sanikidze at Oktagon 45 in July 2023, after a leg injury. He later stopped Niko Samsonidse to take the vacant Oktagon featherweight title.
Naimov, 32, is a Tajik featherweight who fights out of Elevation Fight Team in Denver. Nicknamed Hillman, he had already made seven UFC appearances before he met Keita.
He stopped Jamie Mullarkey in his Octagon debut on June 3, 2023, and took a Performance of the Night bonus. He also beat Wood by unanimous decision at UFC 294 in October 2023.
His last fight was a third-round TKO loss to Mairon Santos at UFC 323 on Dec. 6, 2025. Santos missed weight, and the bout went at catchweight.
Before that, Naimov took unanimous decisions over Kaan Ofli in February 2025 and Bogdan Grad in June 2025. Felipe Lima had submitted him with a rear-naked choke in Riyadh in June 2024.
Neither man sat in the official UFC featherweight top 15 released after UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song. Keita was still a sizable favorite on the main-card opener.
The 145-pound fight did not last. Keita found Naimov early, then dropped him with a right hand that put him out cold.
He did not follow up. He turned and walked away, then climbed into the seats.
The UFC labeled the clip a walk-off knockout. “Losene Keita with one hell of a performance to earn the win at #UFCParis!” the promotion posted.
Keita is now 17-2 overall and 1-1 in the UFC. Eleven of those 17 wins have come by knockout or TKO.
Naimov falls to 13-5 and 5-3 in the promotion. The loss is his second in a row after the Santos stoppage.
The first UFC win closes a messy first year in the promotion. A missed weight, a canceled Paris debut, and a split-decision loss in London had been the whole story until Saturday.
A walk-off knockout of a 5-2 UFC veteran does not put Keita into the official rankings by itself. It does show the power that made him a two-division champion in Europe.
Keita will wait for the UFC to book his third fight in the promotion as the rest of the Paris card continues Saturday.