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Kyoji Horiguchi has been added to the Bellator roster. Horiguchi currently reigns as the Rizin Bantamweight Champion. He also had a run with the Bellator Bantamweight Title along the way but was his time with the promotion was part of a cross-promotion…
Kyoji Horiguchi has been added to the Bellator roster. Horiguchi currently reigns as the Rizin Bantamweight Champion. He also had a run with the Bellator Bantamweight Title along the way but was his time with the promotion was part of a cross-promotion partnership. He was forced to relinquish the belt due to an injury. Bellator […]
Continue Reading Kyoji Horiguchi Signs With Bellator, Scott Coker Reacts at MMA News.
After being asked about working with the RIZIN promotion, UFC president Dana White was not completely dismissive of the idea. Following the amazing UFC 263 card in Glendale Arizona in front of a packed crowd, the UFC boss contemplated the option of wor…
After being asked about working with the RIZIN promotion, UFC president Dana White was not completely dismissive of the idea. Following the amazing UFC 263 card in Glendale Arizona in front of a packed crowd, the UFC boss contemplated the option of working with a different promotion again. According to the UFC boss, there is […]
Continue Reading Dana White On Possibility Of Working With RIZIN Promotion at MMA News.
Redemption for bantamweight standout, Kyoji ‘The Typhoon’ Horiguchi. Returning from a debilitating knee injury which forced him to vacant his Bellator MMA bantamweight crown, the 30-year-old headlined RIZIN FF 26 this morning in Saitama, Japan — stopping two-time foe, Kai Asakura to reclaim the promotion’s world championship. Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger suffered […]
Redemption for bantamweight standout, Kyoji ‘The Typhoon’ Horiguchi. Returning from a debilitating knee injury which forced him to vacant his Bellator MMA bantamweight crown, the 30-year-old headlined RIZIN FF 26 this morning in Saitama, Japan — stopping two-time foe, Kai Asakura to reclaim the promotion’s world championship.
Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger suffered a nasty knee injury in October of last year, ultimately forcing him to vacate the Bellator title he lifted via a unanimous decision win over Darrion ‘The Wolf’ Caldwell, the following month.
Unbeaten in his next thirteen outings since dropping a buzzer-beating armbar loss to ONE Championship tournament victor, Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, Horiguchi battled with the above mentioned, Asakura in a non-title matchup, dropping a stunning first-round knockout defeat.
Sixteen months later, Horiguchi returned to action against two-time foe, Asakura, and after expertly finding his mark with calf kicks over and over again in the opening exchanges, Horiguchi countered a jumping knee from his compatriot to stun and subsequently drop him with a barrage before continued ground-and-pound strikes before the three-minute mark ended Asakura’s reign.
Rounding off a sixteen fight card, the promotion also fielded former PRIDE FC great, Takanori Gomi who claimed a majority decision win over Koji Tanaka. In a kickboxing bout, renowned striker, Tenshin Nasukawa managed to grab a unanimous judging victory over Kumandoi Petcharoenvit. Opening the card, Ayaka Hamasaki was crowned the super atomweight champion via a stunning head-scissors submission victory over Miyuu Yamamoto in a vacant title matchup.
With Horiguchi’s win, the American Top Team trainee now improves to 29-3 professionally, adding Asakura to a staggering list of talent already featured on his win column. Prior to this morning’s win, Horiguchi had twice bested the above mentioned, Caldwell, as well as grabbing victories over Ben Nyugen, Hiromasa Ougikubo (x2), Ian McCall, Manel Kape, Ali Baugautinov, Neil Seery, and Louis Gaudinot to name a few.
Speculation has already begun to mount as to what’s next for Horiguchi, with a bantamweight title challenge against recently minted Bellator best, Juan Archuleta already floated, as well as a potential return to the UFC to tackle either flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, or a bantamweight siege against Petr Yan.
This year has no doubt been a test for everyone worldwide, but thankfully, for MMA fans, RIZIN FF will still send the year off with one of their epic New Year’s Eve shows. Headlining RIZIN 26 is a bantamweight title clash that sees defending champion Kai Asakura taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. This fight will be […]
This year has no doubt been a test for everyone worldwide, but thankfully, for MMA fans, RIZIN FF will still send the year off with one of their epic New Year’s Eve shows.
Headlining RIZIN 26 is a bantamweight title clash that sees defending champion Kai Asakura taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. This fight will be the second meeting between the pair after Asakura defeated Horiguchi, who was the then Bellator and Rizin FF champion, in the opening round of their non-title clash at RIZIN 18.
The 27-year-old Asakura is one of RIZIN’s biggest stars and is coming into this fight on the back of two first round stoppage wins. He is confident that his skills have improved immensely since he and Horiguchi last fought back in August of 2019.
“I’ve put on some muscle, so adjusting my weight cut has been a challenge, but I think I have it figured out. Everything about me has gotten better, and I want to show that in my fight. I will make a statement in this fight,” Asakura said, speaking to media ahead of his fight.
Since his loss to Asakura, Horiguchi has not fought. This is mostly due to him undergoing surgery on his right knee. The recovery time took longer than expected, and it was during this enforced layoff that he decided to vacate both his Bellator and RIZIN championships.
“I started sparring and training fully in July. I feel like I am close to 100%. I’ve been adding new stuff to my original style during this period. I never think about the fight until right before the fight, so things are as usual. My absence from the ring really doesn’t affect me,” Horiguchi said.
Horiguchi went on to say that once he reclaims the RIZIN bantamweight title, he will set his sights on recapturing the Bellator strap. However, Asakura feels that he will have the answer to whatever questions his 30-year-old opponent poses when they meet.
“I’m not worried if Horiguchi is back 100%,” Asakura said.
“He can’t change his style that easily. I know what he’s capable of doing, I can adjust to any changes that he may bring to the fight. I think this fight will be seen by many top fighters, so this is a great opportunity for me to show what I can do.”
One fighter who should be watching tonight’s matchup is Bellator’s current bantamweight champion, Juan Archuleta. Asakura, like Horiguchi, has designs on competing for the Bellator strap.
“I plan to defend my belt against Horiguchi and then go after the Bellator belt,” Asakura exclaimed.
For MMA fans the Asakura-Horiguchi rematch is shaping up to be the perfect way to see out what has been the most challenging year in the sports history.
RIZIN 26 will be held on December 31st at the Saitama Super Arena. The event will stream internationally with English commentary by Frank Trigg and Joe Ferraro from the following link.
After a five-month hiatus RIZIN FF returned this week. The Japanese promotion staged RIZIN 22: Starting Over and RIZIN 23: Calling Over, back to back on Sun. Aug 9 and Mon. Aug 10. The two shows took place inside the Pia Arena MM in Yokohama, Japan. Each card contained nine bouts and was made up […]
After a five-month hiatus RIZIN FF returned this week. The Japanese promotion staged RIZIN 22: Starting Over and RIZIN 23: Calling Over, back to back on Sun. Aug 9 and Mon. Aug 10. The two shows took place inside the Pia Arena MM in Yokohama, Japan.
Each card contained nine bouts and was made up exclusively of fighters based in Japan. Both events were available to overseas fans on PPV. However if you wanted to watch, you had had to watch live as the shows were not available on demand.
Thankfully, today RIZIN has answered the prayers of any JMMA fans unfortunate enough to have missed the shows by uploading both cards to its YouTube channel.
All 18 fights have been posted, including the title bout between Kai Asakura and Hiromasa Ogikubo for the vacant RIZIN Bantamweight Championship.
Will you be checking out the events?
It looks like RIZIN FF, and Floyd Mayweather Promotions may be collaborating again following Mayweather’s brief but successful appearance at RIZIN 14. Mayweather posted on Instagram yesterday that he would soon be heading to Japan for meetings with RIZIN. The fact that Mayweather uploaded this post on the same day that RIZIN held its first […]
It looks like RIZIN FF, and Floyd Mayweather Promotions may be collaborating again following Mayweather’s brief but successful appearance at RIZIN 14.
Mayweather posted on Instagram yesterday that he would soon be heading to Japan for meetings with RIZIN.
The fact that Mayweather uploaded this post on the same day that RIZIN held its first major press conference since the outbreak of Covid-19 seems a sure sign the two parties have been speaking.
Mayweather’s made his debut RIZIN appearance at its 2018 New Year’s Eve show where Mayweather stopped Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round of their exhibition boxing bout. It was a completely one-sided affair and hopefully RIZIN will want something with a bit more substance this time around.
Nothing is yet confirmed, and with its two upcoming August shows, RIZIN has plenty to focus on at the moment. However, the prospect of Mayweather appearing, or being involved in someway with a RIZIN event in 2020 will no doubt awaken sports fans’ curiosity.
Would you be keen to see Mayweather appear at a RIZIN event in 2020?