One of the most decorated fighters in the history of the sport is set to make his return to the UFC after a nine-year hiatus.
Kyogi Horiguchi (34-5 MMA, 7-1), who fought inside the Octagon between 2013-2016, made an appearance at RIZIN 50 in Japan on Saturday and confirmed that he will be vacating his flyweight title and going back to compete in the UFC.
The news had initially been reported by Ariel Helwani a few weeks ago, and it also emerged in the last few days (per Irish MMA afficionado Andy Hickey on X) that Horiguchi had rejoined the UFC's anti-doping program and had submitted his first test.
Horiguchi won seven of his eight fights during his first UFC stint, with his only loss coming against long-time flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186.
The Japanese star bounced back to win his next three fights before parting ways with the organization to fight under the RIZIN banner. During his time away from the UFC, Horiguchi has captured world titles in both RIZIN and Bellator, and has beaten some noteable names along the way such as Kai Asakura, Sergio Pettis and Ian McCall.
Horiguchi Wants To Win UFC Gold
Horiguchi is currently riding a six-fight winning streak. He addessed the fans in attendance at RIZIN 50 on Saturday. "I'm going to the UFC", he told them. "I'm going to become the first Japanese UFC champion". The organization have announced they are going to hold a Grand Prix in order to crown a new flyweight champion to replace him.
His statement of intent has opened up plenty of questions, given that his team-mate and training partner Alexandre Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) is the current UFC flyweight champion.
Horiguchi hasn't yet revealed which weight class he plans to compete in once he returns to the Octagon. He won titles in both categories in RIZIN, and also became the Bellator bantamweight champion when he beat Darrion Caldwell back in 2019.
