Kyoji Horiguchi

Overview

Nine UFC wins, and six of them went the distance. Kyoji Horiguchi is a 9-2 flyweight who wins on points far more often than he finishes, and the data says he does it by not getting hit.

His 36-6-0 professional record covers every promotion; inside the UFC he is 9-2 with three finishes. His longest UFC win streak is five fights, and both of his UFC losses came in main events: one to an elite opponent in a five-round fight, the other to a strong one.

Hard to hit, slower to finish.

UFC Career

Horiguchi debuted at UFC 166 with a second-round TKO of Dustin Pague at 3:51. Three more wins followed: a unanimous decision over Darrell Montague, a first-round TKO of Jon Delos Reyes at 3:48, and a decision over Louis Gaudinot at UFC 182.

That earned him a main event. At UFC 186 he faced Demetrious Johnson in a five-round fight, and our model rates Johnson as one of the elite opponents of his career. Horiguchi lost by submission at 4:59 of round 5. One second from the final bell.

He answered with three straight unanimous decisions over Chico Camus, Neil Seery and Ali Bagautinov, and the UFC record shows no fights between November 2016 and November 2025. He returned with a third-round submission of Tagir Ulanbekov, a strong opponent by our model's tier, at 2:18. A unanimous decision over Amir Albazi followed. Those two wins, added to the three decisions before the gap, make up his five-fight run, the longest of his UFC career.

His most recent fight was another main event, against Manel Kape. Kape is a strong opponent by our model, and he stopped Horiguchi by KO/TKO in round 3 at 2:42.

Two losses, both in main events, both late.

Fighting Style

Horiguchi is a defensive fighter, not a volume one. He lands at a rate close to the UFC average, but he is very hard to hit, and that gap is the core of his profile.

His takedown work sits in the middle of the pack, though he is tougher to take down than most. He rarely hunts for submissions, which makes his own submission win over Ulanbekov the exception.

The finish pattern backs this up. Six of his nine UFC wins came by decision, and the three finishes are two TKOs (rounds 1 and 2) and one third-round submission. Only one of them came in the first round.

Notable Wins

• Tagir Ulanbekov — submission, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Hooker (2025)
• Amir Albazi — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira (2026)
• Ali Bagautinov — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 (2016)
• Jon Delos Reyes — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Nelson (2014)

Quick Facts

• Division: Flyweight
• UFC record: 9-2
• Professional record (all promotions): 36-6-0
• UFC debut: 2013
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'4" / 69"
• Team: American Top Team
• Born: Takasaki, Gunma, Japan