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Kyoji Horiguchi provides update following nasty KO loss to Sergio Pettis
Kyoji Horiguchi has provided fans with an update following his nasty knockout loss to Sergio Pettis last night at Bellator 272. Pettis (21-5 MMA) and Horiguchi (29-3 MMA) squared off yesterday evening in Connecticut with the Bellator bantamweight title on the line. Sergio was looking to earn his first career title defense, while Kyoji was […]
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Pros react after Sergio Pettis sleeps Kyoji Horiguchi with spinning backfist
Tonight’s Bellator 272 event was headlined by a highly anticipated title fight featuring Sergio Pettis taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. 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. ‘SP’ had captured the promotions bantamweight world title this past May in Connecticut, […]
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Sergio Pettis pulls off incredible comeback with brutal KO of Kyoji Horiguchi (Video)
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. ‘SP’ had captured the promotions bantamweight world title […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi doesn’t see Sergio Pettis as ‘real champion’ ahead of Bellator 272 title clash
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 […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi gets immediate title shot in return to Bellator, challenges Sergio Pettis
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. “It’s always a special […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi joins Bellator roster, expected to still compete in Japan
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. Due to the global pandemic and the fight against COVID-19, RIZIN has been […]
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RIZIN 26 results: Kyoji Horiguchi gets his vengeance, reclaims title
On New Years Eve in Japan (Thursday morning in North America), RIZIN Fighting Federation wrapped up the year with the stacked RIZIN 26 event. The card was headlined by a bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Kai Asakura and former champion Kyoji Horiguchi. The bout was a rematch of a non-title fight that Asakura won […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi relinquishes Bellator belt
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. “I feel terrible for Kyoji [Horiguchi] about the injury he suffered to his knee, but in the true spirit of martial arts and […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi withdraws from Rizin 20, vacates bantamweight title
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. The promotion organization announced the news on Wednesday evening. […]
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WATCH | Kyoji Horiguchi gets shockingly knocked out in 68 seconds at RIZIN 18
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. Why the title was not on the line was unknown but RIZIN FF CEO, Nobuyuki Sakakibara said this when the fight was announced: “Kyoji Horiguchi […]
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Bellator 222 Results: Kyoji Horiguchi defeats Darrion Caldwell
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. Darrion Caldwell was able […]
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Darrion Caldwell vs Kyoji Horiguchi 2 official for Bellator 222
The first RIZIN Fighting Federation event of 2019 went down on April 21 with RIZIN 15. It was a great night of fights as per usual from the Japanese based MMA leader. In action, that night was none other than the RIZIN bantamweight king, Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) who defeated Ben Nguyen via first-round TKO. The […]
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RIZIN 15 gets Kyoji Horiguchi vs Ben Nguyen and inaugural light heavyweight title bout
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 […]
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Darrion Caldwell reacts to submission loss to Kyoji Horiguchi, hints at rematch in the cage
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 […]
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RIZIN 14 full fight card revealed, Bellator champ Darrion Caldwell heads to Japan to face Kyoji Horiguchi
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 […]
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Tenshin Nasukawa vs Kyoji Horiguchi was Japan’s Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor and it was absolutely awesome
“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 […]
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Dear MMA Gods | Let’s see how mighty this mouse really is
Despite having come up short in his most recent attempted title defense, there is no question that Demetrious Johnson is one of the all-time greats. Even in his rematch with Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, it wasn’t as if the mighty one was blown out of the water in his split decision loss. With a […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi, Tenshin Nasukawa, Mirko Cro Cop return at stacked Rizin 13 card
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 […]
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RIZIN 11 results: Takanori Gomi turns back the clock and Kyoji Horiguchi continues his winning ways
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 […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Kyoji Horiguchi wants rematch with Demetrious Johnson in “very near future”
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. Of all the wins Horiguchi has authored under the Rizin banner, none were quite as impressive as his […]
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BJPENN.COM Radio Ep. 80 // TJ Dillashaw | Jorge Masvidal | Kyoji Horiguchi
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 […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Rizin looking to book Kyoji Horiguchi for September kickboxing Grand Prix
It’s hard to argue that there is a fighter that has been more impressive than Kyoji Horiguchi in their post-UFC career. Since losing for only the second time in his career to UFC flyweight king, Demetrious Johnson, Horiguchi has rattled off nine straight victories with five finishes in a row(4 KO/TKO, 1 submission). More impressively, those […]
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Ian McCall issues statement on 9-second loss to Kyoji Horiguchi
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 […]
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VIDEO | Kyoji Horiguchi KO’s Ian McCall in just nine seconds
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. Horiguchi, who has now won nine fights in a row since leaving the UFC, caught McCall with […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Kyoji Horiguchi shares his reasons for leaving the UFC—and one of them is beautiful
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto protege and current American Top Team staple Kyoji Horiguchi has long stood out as one of the best flyweights on earth. In late 2016, however, the one-time UFC flyweight title challenger left the UFC, and set up shop under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner in his native Japan. Since his departure from […]
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BJPENN.COM Radio Ep. 76 // Ben Henderson | Alex Caceres | Rick Story | Jimmie Rivera | Jorge Masvidal | Kyoji Horiguchi
Another STACKED episode of BJPENN.COM Radio has arrived, Penn Nation! We kick things off with former UFC lightweight champion and current Bellator MMA star, Benson Henderson. Following the announcement that James Gallagher would not be competing at Bellator 196 in Budapest next weekend, Benson answered the call to save the card and now faces another […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi Ready to Show His Greatness Against Top Fighter Ian McCall at RIZIN 10
Right before Summer heats up, the premier Japanese fighting organization will put on their first fiery card of 2018 on May 6th. Perched atop of the card will be two former UFC fighters going at it in what may be the highest level of MMA to take place within the RIZIN ring. Newly crowned RIZIN […]
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Fight Think: The Top 5 Interpromotional MMA Title Fights to Book If It Were Possible
The year of the superfight is truly upon us. Whether they all go down or not, three giant fights between champions in different divisions are expected to fight each other. Whether this is the UFC’s big explosion like the death of a star, or their metamorphosis to survive in the future, it’s clear that things […]