Following his exit from the UFC, Kyoji Horiguchi was making a compelling argument to be considered as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport after conquering both the Rizin and Bellator bantamweight titles.
It was an amazing accomplishment for a fighter who was previously considered an elite flyweight with his only loss over the span of seven years coming to Demetrious Johnson in a title fight back in 2015.
After picking up back-to-back wins over Darrion Caldwell, Horiguchi was riding high but then he was matched up against Kai Asakura in a non-title fight at Rizin 18 and that’s when the bottom fell out.