Kyoji Horiguchi drops to flyweight, meets Chris Cariaso at UFC 169

Top Japanese import Kyoji Horiguchi is dropping to the flyweight division and will meet Chris Cariaso at February’s UFC 169 event.

UFC officials recently announced the new matchup, and the pair now faces off on Feb. 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The evening’s main card airs on pay-per-view, but an official bout order has yet to be released, and it’s unknown where the Cariaso (15-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) vs. Horiguchi (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) matchup will fit on the evening’s lineup.

Cariaso boasts 10 combined fights under the UFC and WEC banners, including a 2-2 mark at 125 pounds since dropping to the division in July 2012. Most recently, the 32-year-old earned an impressive second-round TKO win over Iliarde Santos at UFC Fight Night 29 in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Horiguchi turned pro in May 2010 and quickly racked up an 11-1 record in his first 12 fights. That earned him an invitation to serve as a late-replacement opponent for Dustin Pague in a bantamweight matchup at UFC 166, and Horiguchi responded with a second-round TKO victory.

With the addition to the card, UFC 169 now includes:

• Champ Dominick Cruz vs. Champ Renan Barao – bantamweight title unification bout
• Champ Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas – for featherweight title
• Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem
• Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

For the latest on UFC 169, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.