Kyoji Horiguchi will get an opportunity to avenge one of his most notable losses at Rizin 47.
Horiguchi (32-5-1) is set to run it back with Sergio Pettis (23-6) in a bantamweight bout June 8 (June 9 locally) from Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, promotion officials announced Thursday night.
π£ #Yogibo presents #RIZIN47
π₯π₯ Matchup Announcement π₯π₯RIZIN MMA Rules 61.0kg
π₯ #KyojiHoriguchi / @kyoji1012
First-ever RIZIN Flyweight Champion
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π¦ #SergioPettis / @sergiopettis
Former Bellator World Bantamweight ChampionποΈ Yoyogi National Gymnasium,β¦ pic.twitter.com/SnFB3SvWAu
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) April 19, 2024
Pettis rallied to knock out Horiguchi with a spinning backfist to retain his bantamweight title at Bellator 272. He went on to defend his title against Patricio Freire at Bellator 297 but then lost it to Patchy Mix at Bellator 301.
Horiguchi captured inaugural Rizin flyweight championship with a second-round submission of Makoto Takahashi this past December. He will return to bantamweight for the first time since September 2022.
"Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis, Patrick Mix – these 3 fighters are the only ones that he hasn't been able to get payback against."
– CEO @nobu_sakakibara speaks about how the Horiguchi-Pettis rematch came about. pic.twitter.com/QF7opByTOq— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) April 19, 2024
The current Rizin 47 lineup includes:
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Sergio Pettis
- Juan Archuleta vs. Kleber Koike
- Karshyga Dautbek vs. Tetsuya Seki
