Kyoji Horiguchi has to look to get back into the win column by the end of the year in RIZIN. The RIZIN and Bellator champion is coming off of a shocking knockout loss to Kai Asakura in a non-title fight at RIZIN 18.
Why the fight was a non-title fight is something Bellator president, Scott Coker can’t talk about.
“I can’t talk about why that fight happened or how it happened because I really wasn’t aware of the situation,” Scott Coker said to MMA Fighting. “I just knew it wasn’t a title fight. That’s the beauty of this sport. I think Horiguchi probably underestimated the opponent a little bit and thought he’d just take it to him and the guy comes out and knocks him out. That’s MMA. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Now that Kyoji Horiguchi has to rematch Asakura, when he will fight in Bellator again is to be seen. But, according to Coker, it will be next year, and as for a possible opponent, well it could very well be Kai Asakura. Especially if Horiguchi loses again to lose his RIZIN title.
“I believe [Rizin] wants to have a title fight sometime in the fall,” Coker revealed. “They’ll have a title fight and I think eventually Horiguchi, if he wins, will come here and defend his belt and if not the other guy will come and he’ll have to fight Horiguchi, maybe he’ll have to come fight Horiguchi under the cage rules with Bellator rules and see what happens.
“It’s a little bit complicated but at the end of the day, the champ’s going to come over and he’ll fight whoever the top contender is, whether it’s a Japanese fighter, or whatever, we’ll have a great fight for him.”
