There isn’t just one reason why Kyoji Horiguchi opted to sign with Rizin FF when his UFC contract was up in 2016. There are a host of them.
The “most important” of those reasons will manifest itself in a big way this weekend. Horiguchi will headline Rizin 13 against Tenshin Nasukawa in a kickboxing match in front of more than 10,000 fans at Saitama Super Arena. Tickets sold so well that the venue had to open up the second level and now Rizin is expecting closer to 20,000 in attendance.
“I have fans in Japan and I can now show my fights live in front of them,” Horiguchi told MMA Fighting in a recent interview through an interpreter.