The shock upset of Kyoji Horiguchi by Kai Asakura capped a solid night of action at RIZIN 18 in Nagoya, Japan on Sunday.
RIZIN 18 went down over this past weekend, and the end result of the main event was not what anyone expected. After dominating every fight he’d been in since losing a flyweight title bid to Demetrious Johnson in the UFC, and winning two titles (in RIZIN and Bellator MMA), Kyoji Horiguchi seemed unstoppable. Then, he ran up against Kai Asakura, and it all came crashing down.
On Sunday in Nagoya at RIZIN 18, Asakura knocked out Horiguchi just over a minute into the first round. The shock upset left MMA fans reeling, and asking “what’s next?”
Horiguchi, of course, still has his bantamweight titles, as the fight with Asakura was a non-title affair. But whether he pursues a rematch, perhaps with the belt in play, or defends his Bellator title next, or faces an entirely different challenge, remains to be seen.
UFC alum Justin Scoggins picked up a win at the event, while another former UFC notable, Jarred Brooks, a.k.a. The Monkey God, saw his fight end in a No Contest due to an accidental headbutt.
Check below for a gallery of highlights from all the fights at RIZIN 18! And check out our results page to see the rest of the night’s winners and losers.
