Kyoji Horiguchi's coach reveals what forced him out of UFC return fight: 'We had to push it back'

23/05/2025 15:00

Kyoji Horiguchi was supposed to make his highly anticipated return to the UFC at the upcoming card in Baku, Azerbaijan, but unfortunately, he was suddenly removed and replaced in his scheduled fight against Tagir Ulanbekov.

No details were available at the time but now Horiguchi's longtime head coach Mike Brown from American Top Team has revealed details regarding the former RIZIN and Bellator champion being forced out of the fight and his timeline to return to action.

"He had a rib injury," Brown told MMA Fighting. "Unfortunately, everything was going to plan, we were so pumped that he was finally in the UFC, and I mean this guy trains hard everyday, goes live everyday and puts himself through the ringer. Unfortunately, these kind of things happen.

"He tore some cartilage in his rib and this was a pretty good tear so six to eight weeks before you can really move without really bad pain. That would put him right at fight time. We gave it like a week and tried for him to train on it and there was no way. We had to push it back."

The six- to eight-week recovery time means Horiguchi should be able to return to full training by the end of June or early July, which means his return to the UFC won't be delayed very long.

That said, Brown believes Horiguchi is ready for whoever the UFC ends up throwing at him just like he was prepared to face Ulanbekov in his first fight inside the octagon in nearly nine years.

During his previous stint with the UFC, Horiguchi was one of the top flyweights in the sport with his only loss coming back in 2015 when he fell by submission to then champion Demetrious Johnson. Overall, Horiguchi sported a 7-1 record in the UFC before leaving the promotion and signing with RIZIN in Japan.

Horiguchi eventually tested himself at bantamweight, and he became a force of nature in that division as well after claiming titles in both RIZIN and then Bellator MMA as well.

Now, the 34-year-old veteran is back in his old stomping grounds at flyweight, and Brown promises that Horiguchi is ready to take on anybody the UFC offers him.

"Honestly not concerned with who his opponent is," Brown said. "We believe that he can fight anybody. So whoever they want to give him, no problem. From 1 to 100, it doesn't matter. Put in front of him, he's willing to fight anybody, anywhere.

"He'll go up to [135 pounds]. I mean he fought Tenshin Nasukawa in his first kickboxing fight ever. This guy is willing to fight anybody and is a special guy. He's willing to take on anybody."

Returning to the UFC potentially presents one issue for Horiguchi, because his pursuit of the flyweight title could bring him in direct conflict with friend and teammate Alexandre Pantoja, who currently holds the title at 125 pounds.

While those kinds of fights have torn teams apart in the past, Pantoja actually praised Horiguchi as one of the primary reasons he was able to become UFC champion, and he wouldn't deny his friend a chance to live the same dream now that they're competing in the same promotion.

"It's gonna be a pleasure if I fight with him for the belt," Pantoja told MMA Fighting back in April. "Just for the belt. I don't believe I'd fight with Kyoji without the belt, but for the belt, we are talking about that. And it's gonna be like a gift, this opportunity to fight with Kyoji for the belt … when I spar with Kyoji in the gym, every fight stops in the gym and watches my training with him. It's a pleasure. It's like real gift to have Kyoji on my side."

Brown admits he's never enjoyed situations where teammates are forced to fight each other, but he knows the relationship forged between Horiguchi, Pantoja and former ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, who also trains at American Top Team, is something special.

"I've never seen anything like it," Brown said. "Those three together are such good guys. Between Pantoja, Kyoji and Adriano Moraes, ONE FC champ, UFC champ and then Bellator/RIZIN champ, all the best guys in the world and just very little ego. Humble and just bad dudes, all three of them. All very complimentary of one another and none of them have a big ego. It's refreshing honestly.

"I'm not a guy who like to see teammates fight one another, but these are guys I think they could probably end up doing it and there wouldn't be any animosity. They're all like super good dudes and all super humble."

More than anything, Brown is just excited to see Horiguchi get the opportunity to once again compete on the biggest stage in the sport now that he's back in the UFC.

"In RIZIN, Japan is watching and a few other places," Brown said. "The world is watching the UFC, and I think he deserves that. I think that he deserves for the world to see how good this guy is."