Kyoji Horiguchi Says Competing in Rizin Again Is up to a ‘President Talk’

In September, Bellator MMA announced that it had signed former 135-pound titleholder and current Rizin Fighting Federation champion Kyoji Horiguchi to a new contract. Considering the good relationship between the two promotions, Horiguchi (29-3, 1-0 Bellator) was allowed to keep his belt in the Japanese organization after Rizin and Bellator apparently reached a deal similar to the one they had in 2019. When asked if he could confirm that he would fight in both promotions, Horiguchi said that it was up to the men in charge.

“They wanted me to stay in Rizin, but I wanted to fight against stronger fighters,” Horiguchi said. “That’s why I’m moving to Bellator. Right now, I’m a Bellator fighter, but I hold the Rizin belt too. That’s a hard question for me. That’s a Rizin president and Bellator president discussion.”

For now, Horiguchi will take on Sergio Pettis in the upcoming Bellator 272 headliner, competing for a belt the 31-year-old feels he never lost. Still, Horiguchi believes his relationship with Nobuyuki Sakakibara is good, considering that the Rizin head will be coming to the United States to watch the fight.

“It’s very friendly, he’s very friendly. He’s coming to the Bellator event in December to see my fight. It’s very friendly, yeah.”

In his latest appearance, he recaptured the Rizin 135-pound championship by smashing former titleholder Kai Asakura, evening the score with his former foe. Horiguchi also said he would be open to defending his Rizin belt, provided that the “president talk” happens. When asked about a potential trilogy with Asakura, he didn’t commit himself to it, but didn’t rule it out, either.

“It doesn’t matter who’s the opponent,” he said. “I don’t care. If he gets a victory, I’ll fight against him.”

Horiguchi also discussed the storyline involving some of his American Top Team teammates testing themselves in professional wrestling under the All Elite Wrestling banner, dispelling any doubts about his condition following his 2019 ACL injury, and more.

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.