Kyoji Horiguchi signs with Bellator and says ‘I can’t sit here and wait’ – but keeps Rizin bantamweight title
- Florida-based Japanese fighter admits ‘I was put in a spot where I had to make a decision’ given he was unable to travel to Japan because of pandemic
- ‘I will not be jumping ship, as I will be representing Japan and Rizin while I take on new challenges in the Bellator cage,’ Horiguchi says
Kyoji Horiguchi has joined Bellator, the US-based promotion announced on Thursday, but will keep his Rizin bantamweight title and return to Japan when he can.
The 30-year-old Horiguchi (29-3) reclaimed the belt from Kai Asakura in the main event of the Japanese promotion’s Rizin 26 card on New Year’s Eve, but has been stuck in the US unable to compete in his home country since because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Japanese fighter trains in Floria at American Top Team, which revealed in its latest podcast on Wednesday that he was now a free agent and weighing up his options.
Bellator swooped quickly to bring back Horiguchi, who had won the promotion’s bantamweight title from Darrion Caldwell in June 2019, but never got to defend it because of injury.
“To all who always support me, I’m currently in Florida at ATT and have been living a life with nothing but training,” Horiguchi wrote in a statement to his fans.
“Right now, due to the Covid pandemic, it has been extremely difficult for me to enter Japan under the right conditions and this is a big matter for me and all fighters living outside of Japan.
