Kyoji Horiguchi got off to a great start in his rematch against Manel Kape but a punch in the third round changed everything.
Kape clipped Horiguchi with a perfectly-timed counter right hand that put the Japanese legend on wobbly legs until he ended up face first on the canvas. Kape continued his assault with a barrage of punches until he finally connected with a shot that flattened Horiguchi and referee Herb Dean had no choice but to stop the fight.
The loss served as Horiguchi’s first setback since returning to the UFC but he promised this won’t deter him from his ultimate goal and that’s becoming flyweight champion.
“Thank you all for your support,” Horiguchi wrote on Twitter (translated from Japanese). “I got spectacularly knocked out. I’m truly sorry. Kape was strong.
“Thank you! This is why I can’t quit martial arts. I’ll retrain and be back in no time! I’m not giving up on my dream yet.”
Horiguchi already had a submission win over Kape from their first encounter when they met in RIZIN back in 2017. The rematch was going Horiguchi’s way as well until he got caught with the punch that led to the third-round knockout.
While he actually protested the stoppage in the moment, Horiguchi obviously accepted the loss as acknowledged in his first post-fight statement.
That said, Horiguchi was still in control until Kape caught him with that punch so the loss shouldn’t set him too far back in the rankings, especially when considering his entire body of work.
At 35, Horiguchi is still one of the best 125-pound fighters in the sport and it sounds like he’s just as motivated as ever to recover and get back to work as soon as possible.
The loss dropped Horiguchi’s overall record to 36-6 with one no contest but he’s 7-1 with one no contest in his past eight fights with all but one of those bouts taking place at flyweight after he spent years competing at bantamweight.
The fight was also only the second loss on Horiguchi’s UFC resume with his other defeat coming in a title fight to flyweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson back in 2015.
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