Kyoji Horiguchi’s resurgence in the UFC continues to be one of the feel-good stories in all of mixed martial arts.
The Japanese star moved up three spots in the latest official UFC fighter rankings to No. 5 in the men’s flyweight contender rankings in the aftermath of his recent win over Amir Albazi at a UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Horiguchi schooled Albazi over three rounds en route to a decision win to improve to 2-0 in the UFC since returning to the organization last year after nearly a decade fighting abroad.
The 35-year-old extend his unbeaten streak to eight in a row and now sits No. 5 at 125 pounds. He moved ahead of former two-time champion Brandon Moreno, Albazi and Asu Almabayev who are now ranked sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Horiguchi is closing in on his second career UFC championship opportunity — he earned one all the way back in 2015, during his initial 7-1 UFC run, but lost to then-champ Demetrious Johnson — and is currently one of a small handful of title hopefuls in the weight class.
Joshua Van is the reigning flyweight champion after winning the belt in December in flukey fashion when former longtime champion Alexandre Pantoja sustained an elbow injury in the opening minute of their fight. Depending on the timeline of Pantoja’s recovery, the UFC could either book a rematch or give Van a fresh challenger while Pantoja rehabilitates his arm.
Pantoja is rightfully the No. 1-ranked contender with Manel Kape at No. 2 and Horiguchi’s compatriot Tatsuro Taira No. 3. Both Kape and Taira are coming off impressive December stoppage wins one week apart. The No. 4 contender is Brandon Royval, who was knocked out by Kape in his most recent bout and has previously lost to both Van and Pantoja, which means Royval isn’t in the title conversation.
Horiguchi, on the other hand, is right up there with Pantoja, Kape and Taira. Horiguchi, who is an American Top Team teammate of Pantoja, called for a shot at Van after beating Albazi.
Horiguchi wasn’t the only fighter to benefit from a win at the first Meta Apex card of the year.
Mario Bautista, who secured a submission victory over Vinicius Oliveira in the night’s main event, held onto a spot in the top 10 at men’s bantamweight.
Bautista moved up one place to No. 8, leapfrogging one-time title contender Marlon Vera. Oliveira subsequently fell one spot to No. 12 after having his six-fight winning streak snapped.
The 32-year-old called out No. 4-ranked Cory Sandhangen for a rematch. Sandhangen has been a top-five staple at 135 for the past few years and was the first fighter to defeat Bautista when Bautista made his short-notice UFC debut seven years ago.
Rizvan Kuniev debuted in the heavyweight rankings all the way up at No. 6 after getting his hand raised via unanimous decision over Jailton Almeida. Kuniev had pushed No. 4-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes to a split decision in his UFC debut in June but didn’t crack the rankings. The 33-year-old’s win over Alemeida left little doubt the Dagestan, Russia, native belongs mentioned among the top heavyweight contenders currently on the UFC roster.
Alemeida, meanwhile, fell from No. 6 to No. 8 and has since revealed via his manager that he will be moving back down to the light-heavyweight division following his second consecutive lacklustre decision loss.
The 34-year-old Brazilian debuted in the UFC in 2022 with a TKO win over Danilo Marques at 205 pounds before making the move up to heavyweight, where he has gone 6-3 (one of those wins was in a 220-pound catchweight bout).
In other rankings movement, Dustin Jacoby returned to the top 15 at No. 14, thanks to his third consecutive stoppage win. The 37-year-old from Colorado finished Julius Walker by KO/TKO and is one of the more aggressive striking-based fighters in the division.
Wang Cong improved one spot, to No. 11, in the women’s flyweight division, overtaking Casey O’Neill, with her unanimous decision over Eduarda Moura.
Cong’s ranking at 125 pounds improved despite the fact Cong and Moura both missed weight and their bout took place at a catchweight and was not technically a flyweight contest.
