Ex-UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi meets Yuki Motoya in Rizin FF debut in April

It was announced earlier this week that former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi was heading to Rizin FF as a free agent. Now we know his first opponent.

Horiguchi (18-2) will meet Yuki Motoya (18-4) in his debut for the promotion on April 16 at Rizin’s event at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, a major city south of Tokyo. The promotion announced the matchup today. News of the booking was first reported by MMAFighting.com.

2017?4?16? ?????? ???? vs ???? #RIZIN2017 #RIZINFF #MMA #MMAJP #yokohamaarena @kyoji1012 @yuki.motoya

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Motoya has not lost in three and a half years. He has 10 straight wins over that stretch, all under the DEEP and Rizin FF banners. The 27-year-old Japanese fighter has a near perfect mix of results on his 18-win resume with five knockouts, six submissions and seven decisions.

The rear-naked choke has been Motoya’s finish of choice during his winning streak. He has three wins by the tapout, including one this past year during a 3-0 2016 calendar year.

After winning Shooto’s bantamweight title in 2013 and defending the belt once, Horiguchi signed with the UFC on the strength of that championship and an 11-1 overall record, all in his native Japan.

His UFC debut came at bantamweight, and he delivered with a third-round TKO of Dustin Pague at UFC 166. But when he came back seven months later, it was at flyweight after the UFC introduced the weight class. After wins over Darrel Montague, Jon delos Reyes and Louis Gaudinot, he was 4-0 in the UFC and got a crack at flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

But at UFC 186 in April 2015, he came out on the wrong side of a UFC history trivia question when Johnson submitted him with an armbar with just one second left in their five-round fight in a bout Johnson was about to win on points. It was the latest finish in a title fight in UFC history.

Horiguchi rebounded after that and won three straight unanimous decisions against Chico Camus, Neil Seery and, most recently, fellow former title challenger Ali Gabautinov at UFC Fight Night 99 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. That win made him 7-1 in the UFC.

But instaed of re-upping with the UFC, he will return to his home country for his new home with Rizin FF.