He survived his own death but moved on. Keita clawed his way to the quarterfinals of the pyramid

Lost Keita.PHOTO: OCTAGON MMA

He was better in two rounds, in the third he survived his own death. Popular Belgian Losene Keita has become the last quarter-finalist of the Tipsport Gamechanger. At Octagon 57 in Frankfurt, he shot his way to advance in an attractive battle with the Dutchman Agy Sardari, but he did not completely confirm the role of the biggest favorite of the pyramid and the tournament. Although he did not make excuses for it at all, his injured left leg visibly limited him in the cage, and at the end of the battle he may have slightly underestimated his juice. He prepared him with some unexpectedly strong moments, but it was not enough to turn things around.

Like all the other round of 16, this one was supposed to take place at the March gala in Ostrava, but an injury during the preparation there did not let Keita into the cage. Thanks to the support of the fans in the vote, he was given a second chance on Saturday in Frankfurt, but of course his health remained a question mark. And it must be said that he did not dispel Keita’s doubts in the cage.

He did not kick the opponent during the entire match, on the contrary, he himself had to withstand more than enough calf kicks. He didn’t go to the ground after any, only instead of his feared speed he had to bet everything on strength this time. It worked out for two rounds. He was clearly better for ten minutes, he caused problems for his opponent with continuous pressure. When he delivered a terrible bomb at the end of the second round, it seemed that only a miracle could guide Sardari to victory, but in the end he was not far from it.

In the third round, the roles were reversed. Even though Keita actively entered it, he didn’t like one blow from the right hand, he was suddenly shaken. Sardari sensed blood and started pushing. He got the giant favorite under him, fought his way into full mount, for a moment he came very close to strangling him. But he didn’t get anything out of it. An exhausted Keita withstood a great crisis and led a beautiful match to victory. With all three judges, he succeeded on points 2:1.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Tipsport Gamechanger looks like. Simply the European league of champions in MMA,” commented Ondřej Novotný and continued. “Whether you like it or not, those problems don’t escape anyone. It’s tough mentally, you’re not doing as well as you always do, you get hit hard, you’re sealed. But Keita showed again the mentality of a champion. He didn’t give up, stayed in the moment and managed to find a way out of the worst moments that Sardari prepared for him,” praised the head of the Octagon of the sovereign king, who also conquered the featherweight after lightweight.

“Keita is never a Keita who doesn’t entertain people. When I watched Agy’s fights, I thought he defends poorly, but it’s really hard to hit him. I won’t make excuses, it wasn’t my best performance today. It wasn’t a Keita show, as people are used to, it will be much better next time. I wanted to show how much Octagon is ahead of Cage Warriors, but I didn’t give up. I was up against a two-time Cage Warriors champion, so the mission fulfilled. Now I have a quarterfinal with Predrag Bogadović and you can be sure that I will be well prepared for him,” promised the famous shooter (12-1) after the fight.