Horiguchi vows to chase flyweight title after third-round knockout loss to Kape

Kyoji Horiguchi suffered a third-round knockout defeat to Manel Kape in their UFC flyweight rematch, losing a fight he had largely controlled until a single counter punch changed everything.

Horiguchi was cruising through the contest when Kape landed a perfectly-timed right hand that put the Japanese veteran on wobbly legs. He ended up face-first on the canvas, and Kape followed with a barrage of punches until referee Herb Dean was left with no choice but to wave it off.

In his first public statement after the loss, posted on Twitter, Horiguchi was candid and defiant in equal measure. “I got spectacularly knocked out. I’m truly sorry. Kape was strong,” he wrote, translated from Japanese. “This is why I can’t quit martial arts. I’ll retrain and be back in no time. I’m not giving up on my dream yet.”

Horiguchi had previously beaten Kape by submission when the two met in RIZIN back in 2017, and the rematch appeared to be heading in the same direction before the decisive punch landed in the third. Although he briefly protested the stoppage in the moment, his post-fight statement made clear he accepted the result.

The defeat is only the second loss on Horiguchi’s UFC record, with his other setback coming in a title fight against flyweight great Demetrious Johnson in 2015. It also ends a run of form that had seen him go 7-1 with one no contest across his last eight bouts.

At 35, Horiguchi’s overall professional record now stands at 36-6 with one no contest. Despite the loss, his standing in the flyweight division remains significant given the breadth of his career, which included years competing at bantamweight before he refocused on the 125-pound class.

With the champion’s belt still the stated goal, Horiguchi’s response to the defeat suggests he has no intention of stepping back from the sport’s top level.