Kyoji Horiguchi News

Harry Kettle - November 24, 2025

UFC star Kyoji Horiguchi has explained his current confidence levels after his successful return to the promotion. After many years away from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Kyoji Horiguchi made a triumphant return at UFC Qatar last weekend. A lot of fans and pundits weren’t quite sure how he would perform at this stage in his career, but at the age of 35, he was able to make it crystal clear that he is here to stay with an emphatic finish over Tagir Ulanbekov.

Chris Taylor - November 22, 2025

We have you covered for all of today’s UFC Qatar results, including the men’s flyweight bout between Kyoji Horiguchi and Tagir Ulanbekov. Horiguchi (35-5 MMA) is returning to the Octagon for the first time since 2016. ‘The Typhoon’ was most previously seen in MMA action last December in Japan, where he successfully defended the RIZIN Flyweight Championship with a unanimous decision win over Nkazimulo Zulu. The 35-year-old veteran has gone 5-0-1 over his last five fights overall.

Dylan Bowker - November 3, 2025

Kyoji Horiguchi is making his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC Qatar, and his former two-time opponent Sergio Pettis has weighed in on Horiguchi’s octagon return. The former UFC flyweight title challenger, as well as former Rizin and Bellator MMA bantamweight champion, is returning to the UFC after nine years away, as Horiguchi clashes with Tagir Ulanbekov on November 22nd. The pair were supposed to fight in June before Horiguchi withdrew, but the rebooking here will allow the Japanese standout to still make his UFC return in 2025.

Curtis Calhoun - October 2, 2025

Former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi will return to the Octagon for the promotion’s inaugural event in Qatar next month. It’s been more than 10 years since flyweight Kyoji Horiguchi lost to Demetrious Johnson by a last-second armbar in his lone UFC title fight. Since parting ways with the UFC in 2017, Horiguchi earned titles in Rizin and Bellator, reaffirming himself as one of the best flyweights in modern MMA.

Josh Evanoff - April 4, 2025

UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja has no issues with fighting Kyoji Horiguchi. ‘The Cannibal’ was last seen in the octagon in the main event of UFC 310 in December. That night in Las Vegas saw Alexandre Pantoja dominate the newly signed Kai Asakura, ultimately securing a second-round submission win. As of now, the Brazilian remains unbooked. However, has been linked to a clash with Kai Kara-France this summer at International Fight Week.

Josh Evanoff - March 20, 2025

According to a recent report from Ariel Helwani, RIZIN champion Kyoji Horiguchi is nearing a deal to return to the UFC. ‘The Typhoon’ hasn’t been in the RIZIN ring since his title defense against Nkazimulo Zulu in December. Back for the first time since his lopsided decision win over Sergio Pettis last summer, he handed ‘Zulu Boy’ a unanimous decision loss. The win moved Kyoji Horiguchi’s unbeaten streak to seven, and was also his first defense of flyweight gold. However, that will likely go down as his last appearance in the Japanese promotion.

Josh Evanoff - December 27, 2024

RIZIN flyweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi wants to prove that he’s the best in the world. ‘The Typhoon’ hasn’t been seen in the ring since a bantamweight clash with Sergio Pettis in June. In a rematch of their Bellator 272 classic which saw ‘The Phenom’ score a knockout win, Kyoji Horiguchi dominated. After 15 minutes of action, he moved his unbeaten streak to five by unanimous decision.

Josh Evanoff - April 19, 2024

Kyoji Horiguchi will get the chance to avenge a loss to Sergio Pettis later this summer in RIZIN. ‘The Typhoon’ is fresh off a rematch with Makoto Takahashi at RIZIN 45 in December. That fight was his second in a row with the Japanese fighter, previously fighting to a no-contest in July that ended in an eye poke. In the second bout, Kyoji Horiguchi wasted no time, securing a second-round submission victory.

Chris Taylor - December 4, 2021

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.

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2021

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

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 by knockout. This time around, Horiguchi evened the score with a first-round TKO, reclaiming the title and reasserting himself as one of the best bantamweights on earth.

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.

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.

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.

Drake Riggs - April 28, 2019

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 dominant 28-year old entered the ring for the first time since he won the title on New Year’s Eve 2018 at RIZIN 14 when he defeated the Bellator champion, Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (13-2) in a crazy comeback effort.