Outside Source
Pantoja’s (30-5) American Top Team teammate, Kyoji Horiguchi, started his second UFC stint at UFC Qatar last weekend. Horiguchi earned a submission win over Tagir Ulanbekov and called for a title shot against Pantoja.
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Pantoja is delighted with Horiguchi’s win over Ulanbekov. “The Cannibal” notes that Horiguchi (35-5) has already been a champion in Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA, and a UFC title win is the only accolade left to earn for the Japanese veteran. Pantoja also believes his UFC flyweight title run would not have been possible if he had not had Horiguchi as a training partner. Pantoja is scheduled to defend his title for the fifth time against Joshua Van at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. If Pantoja gets past Van (15-2), a subsequent title defense against Horiguchi would feel like a gift to “The Cannibal.”
‘He Looked Perfect’
“I am so happy for Kyoji about his performance with Tagir,” Pantoja told MMAjunkie.com. “Tagir is a very good fighter and Kyoji made a clinic. He looked perfect. And this made me very happy because Kyoji is one of my hard training partners in the gym. Me and my family are very grateful to have Kyoji in my life because he makes me level up. I know 100%, because I have Kyoji as my teammate, I conquer this belt in the UFC… Kyoji has been Rizin champ before, Bellator champ, and he just missed the UFC. That’s something he wants… I think it’s very special if he can do that… I will feel honored and grateful, it’s gonna be very special for me if I can win with Joshua Van and defend the belt with Kyoji. It’s gonna be a present.”
Horiguchi went 7-1 in his first UFC stint, only dropping a title shot against Demetrious Johnson. Horiguchi parted ways with the UFC in 2016 and went on to win the Bellator and Rizin titles before returning to the UFC.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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