Losene Keita and Muhammad Naimov meet in the UFC Fight Night 287 main card opener on Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
- Last event's results: 3-3
- UFC main cards, 2026: 96-53-1
Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov UFC Fight Night 287 preview
Keita (16-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) dropped his UFC debut in March by split decision to Nathaniel Wood, ending a five-fight winning streak.
Naimov (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was stopped in the third round by Mairon Santos in his last fight at UFC 323. That result followed back-to-back decision wins over Kaan Ofli and Bogdan Grad.
Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov UFC Fight Night 287 expert pick, prediction
The main card in Paris kicks off with a solid featherweight action fight between Losene Keita and Muhammad Naimov.
Despite having a bit of a lackluster performance in what was a difficult UFC debut opposite the criminally underrated Nathaniel
Wood, Keita remains a fighter I have high hopes for (hence my featuring him in MMA Junkie's 2024 prospects to watch column).
Keita's opponent, Naimov, is also coming off a loss and is in need of a bounce-back win. But despite Naimov making the move to train stateside with Trevor Wittman and company, I still have a hard time counting on his more plodding and straightforward style.
Should this fight play out at the preferred range of each fighter, then I trust the power and durability of the Keita side more. The official pick is Keita to force a stoppage via strikes by the middle of Round 2.
Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov UFC Fight Night 287 odds
The oddsmakers and the public heavily favor the fighter out of Belgium, listing Keita -420 and Naimov +310 via FanDuel.
Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov UFC Fight Night 287 start time, how to watch
Keita and Naimov are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 3:10 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Losene Keita vs. Muhammad Naimov prediction, pick for UFC Fight Night 287
