Kyoji Horiguchi News

Sergio Pettis pulls off incredible comeback with brutal KO of Kyoji Horiguchi (Video)
Chris Taylor - December 3, 2021
Sergio Pettis pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in recent memory when he knocked out Kyoji Horiguchi in tonight’s Bellator 272 main event. Pettis (21-5 MMA) was looking to earn his first career title defense when he took on former champion Horiguchi (29-3 MMA) this evening.

Kyoji Horiguchi doesn't see Sergio Pettis as 'real champion' ahead of Bellator 272 title clash
Drake Riggs - November 24, 2021
Kyoji Horiguchi is a man on a mission. The current RIZIN FF 135-pound bantamweight king recaptured the title he never officially lost on New Year’s Eve 2020 and hasn’t fought since. Now, Horiguchi has signed with Bellator in a rare deal that sees him remain the RIZIN champ and seeks the other title he relinquished when sidelined in all of 2020 recovering from an ACL tear.

Kyoji Horiguchi gets immediate title shot in return to Bellator, challenges Sergio Pettis
Drake Riggs - October 20, 2021
RIZIN bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi is set to attempt to reclaim the title he never lost. Bellator announced on Wednesday that their newest Bellator 135-pound champion in Sergio Pettis has his next challenger. Pettis will defend against the RIZIN titlist in Horiguchi on Dec. 3 at Bellator 272 in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Kyoji Horiguchi joins Bellator roster, expected to still compete in Japan
Drake Riggs - September 9, 2021
Kyoji Horiguchi is taking new steps forward in his storied career. It was revealed Thursday to BJPenn.com that the current RIZIN bantamweight champion has joined the Bellator roster. RIZIN, Bellator President Scott Coker, and Horiguchi himself announced the news via social media.

Kyoji Horiguchi relinquishes Bellator belt
Tom Taylor - November 27, 2019
Weeks after he relinquished the Rizin bantamweight title, Kyoji Horiguchi has let go of the Bellator bantamweight belt as well. Bellator MMA announced this unfortunate news in a Wednesday afternoon press release.

Kyoji Horiguchi withdraws from Rizin 20, vacates bantamweight title
Natasha Hooper - November 15, 2019
Kyoji Horiguchi plans to avenge his loss against Kai Asakura will have to be put on hold. The Rizin and Bellator champion Horiguchi (28-3) has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Rizin 20 bout against Asakura (14-1) due to a damaged meniscus and torn ACL.

WATCH | Kyoji Horiguchi gets shockingly knocked out in 68 seconds at RIZIN 18
Cole Shelton - August 18, 2019
RIZIN FF and Bellator bantamweight champion, Kyoji Horiguchi returned to the cage in the main event of RIZIN 18. There, the champ was taking Kai Asakura in a non-title bout.

Bellator 222 Results: Kyoji Horiguchi defeats Darrion Caldwell
Chris Taylor - June 14, 2019
A highly anticipated rematch between Darrion Caldwell and Kyoji Horiguchi took place at tonight’s Bellator 222 event in New York City. Horiguchi (27-2 MMA) submitted Caldwell (12-2 MMA) in the third round of their New Years Eve bout in Japan. The victory crowned Horiguchi the first Rizin FF super bantamweight champion.

RIZIN 15 gets Kyoji Horiguchi vs Ben Nguyen and inaugural light heavyweight title bout
Drake Riggs - January 30, 2019
With each new year, Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation seems to continually step things up a notch with bigger and better shows. 2018 was no different. RIZIN capped this past year off with the fantastic RIZIN 14 New Year’s Eve show which was headlined by a surprising exhibition boxing match that featured all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather vs prodigy kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa.

Darrion Caldwell reacts to submission loss to Kyoji Horiguchi, hints at rematch in the cage
Tom Taylor - December 31, 2018
Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell traveled all the way to Japan on his quest for a second world title, as we was booked for a RIZIN 14 bantamweight title fight with Japanese star Kyoji Horiguchi. Early on this fight, it looked as though Caldwell might succeed on his transpacific mission, as he was able to take Horiguchi down and control him on the canvas.

RIZIN 14 full fight card revealed, Bellator champ Darrion Caldwell heads to Japan to face Kyoji Horiguchi
Drake Riggs - November 28, 2018
The wait is now over as RIZIN Fighting Federation has finally released the full card for their big New Year’s Eve show this year, RIZIN 14 on December 31. With big things already expected after the announcement of the card’s headliner between boxing legend, Floyd Mayweather and superstar kickboxing prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa, it has only gotten better.

Tenshin Nasukawa vs Kyoji Horiguchi was Japan's Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor and it was absolutely awesome
Drake Riggs - October 15, 2018
“Is this really happening?” is just one of the many quotes or questions that may be asked when witnessing one of those obviously special sports moments. One of the more fun parts about being in the combat sports world is that there are separate sports that are similar enough for athletes to try their hands in the other aspects and varieties that exist outside of the one that they’re accustomed to.

Kyoji Horiguchi, Tenshin Nasukawa, Mirko Cro Cop return at stacked Rizin 13 card
Tom Taylor - August 24, 2018
Early on Friday morning, Rizin Fighting Federation announced the lineup for Rizin 13, which goes down on September 30 inside the hallowed Saitama Super Arena outside Tokyo, Japan. To call the card stacked would be an understatement. In the main event, former UFC flyweight title challenger and current Rizin superstar Kyoji Horiguchi will meet striking ace Tenshin Nasukawa in an absolutely riveting kickboxing bout.

RIZIN 11 results: Takanori Gomi turns back the clock and Kyoji Horiguchi continues his winning ways
Drake Riggs - July 29, 2018
In a night that had already seen some great action produced by UFC on Fox 30 in Calgary, MMA continued in Japan and only further stepped on the gas. The RIZIN Fighting Federation held their 11th numbered card just three hours or so after the conclusion of Dustin Poirier’s epic victory over Eddie Alvarez in their rematch. Right from the get-go, it was almost like the fighters were trying to top the UFC’s action. And they arguably did just that.

EXCLUSIVE | Kyoji Horiguchi wants rematch with Demetrious Johnson in "very near future"
Tom Taylor - May 10, 2018
Former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi has looked absolutely unstoppable since parting ways with the promotion, rattling off five-straight victories in the Rizin Fighting Federation ring — many of which have come against significantly larger foes.

BJPENN.COM Radio Ep. 80 // TJ Dillashaw | Jorge Masvidal | Kyoji Horiguchi
Jason Kindschy - May 9, 2018
BJPENN.COM Radio is back in action, Penn Nation! We kick things off with UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. Last time the champ joined us, the super-fight against “Mighty Mouse” was all but finalized. Since then, the matchup has been shelved and TJ now faces former champion and rival Cody Garbrandt in a rematch at UFC 227 on August 4th. We’ll get TJ’s perspective on what went wrong with negotiations to fight Demetrious and if he feels that fight will eventually materialize. We’ll also preview the second bout with Cody, get TJ’s pick for the Lomachenko vs Linares fight this weekend, and much more.

Ian McCall issues statement on 9-second loss to Kyoji Horiguchi
Tom Taylor - May 7, 2018
Over the weekend, Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation promoted one of its best events to date. This action-packed event featured a number of UFC veterans, most notably former flyweight title contenders Kyoji Horiguchi and Ian McCall, who collided in the main event. Though many fans expected this to be a competitive contest, it instead turned out to be a blitzkrieg win for the surging Japanese talent Horiguchi. The Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto protege and current American Top Team staple put his foe down with a punch mere seconds in the bout, forcing the referee to wave the action off at the 9-second mark (see it here).

VIDEO | Kyoji Horiguchi KO's Ian McCall in just nine seconds
Chris Taylor - May 6, 2018
VIDEO | Kyoji Horiguchi KO’s Ian McCall in just nine seconds Former UFC flyweight title challengers Kyoji Horiguchi (26-2 MMA) and Ian McCall (13-7-1 MMA) squared off last night in a bantamweight bout which headlined RIZIN FF 10.
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