Kyoji Horiguchi acquired off to an excellent begin in his rematch with Manel Cape, however a punch within the third spherical modified all the pieces.
Kape clipped Horiguchi with a superbly timed proper counter, and the Japanese legend stumbled earlier than ending up face-first on the canvas. Kape continued to assault with a flurry of punches and eventually flattened Horiguchi with a shot, forcing referee Herb Dean to cease the struggle.
Though the loss was Horiguchi’s first setback since returning to the UFC, he vowed not to surrender on his final objective of changing into flyweight champion.
“Thanks for everybody’s help,” Horiguchi wrote on Twitter (translated from Japanese). “I acquired knocked out so badly. It is actually unlucky. Cape was robust.
“Thanks! That is why I can not stop martial arts. I am going to practice onerous and are available again quickly! I have never given up on my dream but.”
Horiguchi already had a submission victory over Cape after they met at RIZIN in 2017. The rematch was equally going Horiguchi’s approach, however he was caught with a punch, resulting in a third-round KO.
The truth is, though he protested the stoppage of the match at that second, Horiguchi clearly admitted defeat in his first post-match assertion.
That mentioned, Horiguchi was nonetheless in management till Kape caught him with a punch, so this loss should not set him again a lot within the rankings, particularly contemplating his total work.
Horiguchi, 35, stays top-of-the-line 125-pound fighters within the sport and appears as motivated as ever to get better and get again to work as shortly as doable.
The loss brings Horiguchi’s total report to 36-6 (one no contest), however he has fought at bantamweight for years and is 7-1 in his final eight fights, together with one no contest, with all however a type of bouts coming at flyweight.
The struggle was Horiguchi’s second loss within the UFC, the opposite coming in 2015 in a title struggle towards flyweight GOAT Demetrius Johnson.
