Tag: Kyoji Horiguchi

UFC veterans in MMA and bareknuckle boxing action July 28-30

Check out which veterans of the UFC are in combat sports action across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC returns to pay-per-view for UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.

The event at Delta Center features a lightweight rematch, this time for the BMF title, between [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag].

Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA and bareknuckle boxing this week from July 28-30.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (May 22-28)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from May 22-28.

Bellator X Rizin 2 to feature AJ McKee vs. Patricky Freire, Kyoji Horiguchi in inaugural men’s flyweight title fight

Bellator returns to Japan in July to continue the lightweight world grand prix and crown an inaugural men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator is returning to Japan this summer for a second co-promoted event with Rizin to continue its world lightweight grand prix and crown and inaugural men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator X Rizin 2 takes place July 30 at Saitama Super Arena, and the main event will see a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal bout between former featherweight champion [autotag]AJ McKee[/autotag] (20-1 MMA, 20-1 BMMA) and former lightweight champion [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA).

In the co-feature, Bellator opens the doors to a new men’s flyweight division as former Bellator and Rizin champion [autotag]Kyoji Horiguichi[/autotag] (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) takes on Makoto Takahashi (16-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). The winner will become the inaugural Bellator men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator announced the event and the featured bouts in a press release Saturday morning.

While the first cross-promoted event which took place on New Year’s Eve featured head-to-head bouts between Bellator and Rizin fighters, the second iteration departs from that format. However, the unique event will see Bellator bouts taking place inside a cage whereas Rizin bouts will take place in a ring. The Bellator fighters will wear red and blue Bellator gloves, while the world grand prix competitors will wear white gloves.

Also announced is a women’s flyweight bout between Kana Watanabe and Veta Artega. Bellator fighters Juan Archuleta and Tofiq Musayev will also be in action during the Rizin portion of the card.

The Bellator X Rizin 2 event’s lineup includes:

  • AJ McKee vs. Patricky Freire – lightweight grand prix quarterfinal bout
  • Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Takahashi – inaugural flyweight title bout
  • Kana Watanabe vs. Veta Artega

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Bellator plans launch of men’s flyweight division

Bellator MMA plans to add another division for the first time since 2014, with a men’s flyweight launch impending.

Bellator MMA plans to add another division for the first time since 2014.

The promotion is expected to launch a men’s flyweight division in the coming days, though an exact date of implementation is not yet known.

Multiple people with knowledge of the plans recently informed MMA Junkie of the promotion’s impending launch but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Men’s flyweight will be the promotion’s 10th active weight class, putting them at two less than the UFC, which has 12 (also has women’s strawweight and women’s bantamweight), and four more than PFL (which has six).

While a roster has yet to be determined, top Bellator bantamweight contender [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] has frequently competed in the weight class throughout his career and could serve as one of the division’s early contenders. Horiguchi was supposed to compete in an unusual flyweight bout for Bellator in April, but his opponent Ray Borg withdrew due to weight management issues.

The promotion’s next scheduled show is Bellator 297, which takes place June 16 in Chicago and features two title fights: Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero and Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Freire.

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Ray Borg vs. Kyoji Horiguchi scrapped from Bellator 295, Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros moved to main card

Saturday’s second of back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii has lost a main card fight just hours before the official weigh-ins.

HONOLULU – Saturday’s second of back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii has lost a main card fight just hours before the official weigh-ins.

The flyweight bout between [autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has been canceled, Bellator officials announced Friday. Although the promotion doesn’t officially have a flyweight division, the bout was going to be fought at 125 pounds to open the main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.

Bellator officials did not announce a reason for the fight’s cancellation.

With that fight off, the 165-pound contract weight bout between Oahu native and resident [autotag]Yancy Medeiros[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag] (17-13-1 MMA, 3-4 BMMA) has been elevated to the main card. When Medeiros made his Bellator debut a year ago in Honolulu, he also had his fight moved from the prelims to the main card – but found out backstage during the event.

Borg was set to make his Bellator debut. He has 21 career fights – but also has nearly as many fights that have been scheduled, but canceled. This will be his 11th on-the-books fight cancellation since 2018. Horiguchi, a former Bellator bantamweight champion, was looking to extend a modest two-fight winning streak.

With the change, the Bellator 295 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET)

  • Interim champ Raufeon Stots vs. Patchy Mix – for interim bantamweight title; grand prix final
  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kana Watanabe
  • James Gonzalez vs. Aaron Pico
  • Charlie Leary vs. Yancy Medeiros

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Mads Burnell vs. Justin Gonzales
  • Adli Edwards vs. Kai Kamaka
  • Veta Arteaga vs. Sumiko Inaba
  • Weber Almeida vs. Keoni Diggs
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Bobby King
  • Kasim Aras vs. Davion Franklin
  • Bruna Ellen vs. Ilara Joanne
  • Masayuki Kikuiri vs. Alexey Shurkevich

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.

Kyoji Horiguchi hopes Bellator launches men’s flyweight division

Could a flyweight division be headed to Bellator MMA soon? Kyoji Horiguchi hopes so.

HONOLULU – [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] wants flyweight as his permanent home in Bellator.

Bellator doesn’t currently have a men’s flyweight division, but Horiguchi (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) will face Ray Borg (16-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 125-pound bout in Saturday’s Bellator 295 event at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Horiguchi returned to flyweight for the first time since 2017 when he defeated Hiromasa Ougikubo for a third time at the Rizin FF vs. Bellator event this past December in Japan. A former Bellator bantamweight champion and former UFC flyweight title challenger, Horiguchi wants to stay at 125 pounds, and hopes his fight with Borg can kickstart the launch of a new division.

“That sounds good,” Horiguchi told reporters including MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I want to fight in Bellator at flyweight, so I hope they open up this division.”

Horiguchi meets fellow former UFC flyweight title challenger Borg, who also has a wealth of experience against top-level competition. Horiguchi rates Borg’s skills highly, but sees himself as the more complete fighter.

“He has a good wrestling and boxing style,” Horiguchi said. “I do everything, so I will show up for an MMA fight… I can do MMA, he just has boxing and wrestling. I think everything, I’m better.”

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Although almost half of his career finishes have come by knockout, Horiguchi will be content with any kind of stoppage win against Borg.

“Of course, I want to finish him,” Horiguchi said. “It doesn’t matter, submission or KO, but I will finish him.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.

Ray Borg: Beating Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 295 will throw me right in the title mix

“I don’t see why winning this fight wouldn’t throw me right in that mix.”

HONOLULU – [autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] expects to emerge as a title contender with a win over [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag].

Borg (16-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) draws former champion Horiguchi (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) in a flyweight bout in his promotional debut at Saturday’s Bellator 295 event. The card takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu with the main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Bellator doesn’t have a flyweight division, but it appears Borg’s sights are set on 135-pound gold. On the same night Borg competes, the Bellator bantamweight grand prix will be settled when interim champ Raufeon Stots meets Patchy Mix in the final. The winner of that fight will face champion Sergio Pettis or upcoming title challenger Patricio Freire.

Borg plans on entering the title discussions, too, if he’s victorious.

“I don’t see why winning this fight wouldn’t throw me right in that mix,” Borg told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I don’t know why winning this fight wouldn’t catapult me into the front of the line or at least close to the front of the line. There’s some good fights this weekend in terms of this division, but right now I have my eyes set on Horiguchi and we’ll worry about all that later.”

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A former UFC flyweight title challenger, Borg wouldn’t have it any other way than to take on a stern test like Horiguchi right off the bat.

“I would’ve been kind of bummed if they didn’t give me someone like Horiguchi,” Borg said. “I’ve been in this sport a long time, I’ve fought some really high-level competition, and the fact that me and Horiguchi hadn’t fought in the past was surprising. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to make my Bellator debut. He’s a great fighter, he’s been in the sport a long time, he’s a veteran as well. I just think it’s a great matchup.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.

UFC veterans in MMA and boxing action April 21-23

Check out which UFC veterans are in MMA and boxing action across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC is back in Las Vegas at the UFC Apex for a heavyweight showdown. In the main event, [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] takes on [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] in a fight scheduled for five rounds.

Elsewhere, many other MMA and boxing events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

This weekend, there are a total of 18 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from April 21-23.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (March 6-12)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from March 6-12.

Ray Borg to make Bellator debut vs. Kyoji Horiguchi on April 22 in Hawaii

Kyoji Horiguchi will welcome fellow UFC veteran Ray Borg to the Bellator cage.

[autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] will welcome fellow UFC veteran [autotag]Ray Borg[/autotag] to the Bellator cage.

Former Bellator and Rizin FF bantamweight champion Horiguchi (31-5) faces Borg (16-5) in a flyweight bout April 22 at Bellator 295 in Honolulu. A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the news Wednesday to MMA Junkie after an initial report from MMA Mania.

ESPN first reported the possibility of the matchup in late February after Borg signed with the promotion.

Horiguchi has split his past four appearances. After dropping back-to-back bouts to Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis and grand prix finalist Patchy Mix, Horiguchi rebounded with a submission of Yuto Hokamura, followed by a unanimous decision against Hiromasa Ougikubo in his return to flyweight.

Since parting ways with the UFC in 2020, former title challenger Borg has won three consecutive fights over Jesse Arnett, Cody Gibson, and Ricky Bandejas. Borg, who signed a multifight deal with Bellator, hasn’t competed at flyweight since defeating Rogerio Bontorin in February 2020. He missed weight by 2 pounds.

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The current Bellator 295 lineup includes:

  • Raufeon Stots vs. Patchy Mix
  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kana Watanabe
  • Kasim Aras vs. Davion Franklin
  • Adil Edwards vs. Kai Kamaka III
  • Charlie Leary vs. Yancy Medeiros
  • Aalon Cruz vs. Bobby King
  • Keoni Diggs vs. Weber Almeida
  • Sumiko Inaba vs. Veta Arteaga
  • Ray Borg vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.