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Kyoji Horiguchi’s title hopes took a hit on Saturday. | Getty/UFC
Kyoji Horiguchi’s hopes at making a late career run at UFC flyweight gold hit a serious speed bump on Saturday night.
The American Top Team product suffered a third-round technical knockout loss to Manel Kape in the UFC Fight Night 279 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Things were going well for Horiguchi in the first two frames before Kape flashed his formidable power during the decisive sequence 2:42 into the third stanza.
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The Dream Doesn’t Die
Horiguchi, who defeated Kape in Rizin Fighting Federation in 2017, initially challenged for the UFC flyweight title in April 2015, when he suffered a fifth-round submission loss to Demetrious Johnson. The 35-year-old reflected on the loss in a brief statement on social media.
“Thank you all for your support,” Horiguchi wrote on X (via Translate). “I got spectacularly knocked out. I’m truly sorry. Kape was strong. “Thank you! 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.”
皆さん応援ありがとうございました。
派手にぶっ飛ばされました。本当にすみません。ケイプ選手強かった。
ありがとうございました！これだから格闘技は辞められないよね。
鍛え直してまたすぐに戻ってきます！
まだ俺の夢は諦めない。— 堀口恭司 Kyoji Horiguchi (@kyoji1012) June 21, 2026
Horiguchi had been unbeaten in his last eight professional outings prior to facing Kape. He kicked off his second UFC tenure with back-to-back triumphs over Tagir Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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