Kyoji Horiguchi came up short in his kickboxing debut on Sunday, as the former UFC flyweight title challenger lost on points to 20-year-old striking phenom Tenshin Nasukawa in the main event of Rizin 13 in Saitama, Japan.
Horiguchi, 27, held his own against fellow Rizin poster boy Nasukawa for the majority of the three-round, 128-pound contest. Through six minutes, the most significant strikes landed were two accidental low blows committed by Nasukawa, the second of which left Horiguchi on the ground in agony.
Nasukawa’s best moment came in the final frame, when he put Horiguchi on wobbly legs with a spinning heel kick.