Kyoji Horiguchi is eyeing gold and following his UFC Vegas 113 victory, that desire isn’t going away anytime soon.
Horiguchi and Albazi went one-on-one in a pivotal flyweight bout this past Saturday. It was the “Karate Kid’s” second fight since returning to UFC. Horiguchi stopped Tagir Ulanbekov via technical submission in his UFC return back in Nov. 2025, and he’s now a cool 2-0 since coming back.
Horiguchi earned a unanimous decision win over the No. 6-ranked Albazi. During the UFC Vegas 113 post-fight presser, the former RIZIN star said that his ultimate goal is to win the UFC Flyweight Championship, even if his friend and training partner Alexandre Pantoja eventually reclaims the gold (h/t MMAFighting).
“I don’t care,” Horiguchi said. “I want a belt. If the champion is Pantoja, yes Pantoja. If it’s other guy, yes other guy. That’s all.”
Pantoja lost the 125-pound title due to a freak accident. Just 26 seconds into his title fight against Joshua Van at UFC 323, Pantoja landed awkwardly on his arm, causing a dislocation that awarded the win and the championship to Van. There’s no word on when Pantoja will be ready to return, but Horiguchi won’t skip the line once his friend returns to the Octagon.
“Of course [Pantoja gets the first shot],” Horiguchi said. “He defended it many times. I think he’s a true champion. It was an accident. I think he’s a true champion.”
Horiguchi has gone 7-0, 1 NC in his last eight outings. He’s beaten the likes of Sergio Pettis, Albazi, and Ulanbekov in his current stretch. You’ll have to go back to April 2022 to find Horiguchi’s most recent defeat. It was a unanimous decision loss to Patchy Mix, who was recently cut by UFC. Mix is returning to RIZIN in Japan.
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