Alexandre Pantoja gets 100% real about welcoming teammate Kyoji Horiguchi back to UFC with potential title fight
Alexandre Pantoja and Kyoji Horiguchi are both American Top Team fighters. However, the Brazilian, who reigns as the current UFC flyweight champion, has no qualms with defending his title against Horiguchi, who recently vacated his RIZIN flyweight title to make his return to the UFC.
The last time Horiguchi competed in the promotion was 9 years ago, beating Ali Bagautinov at UFC Fight Night 99 to cap off a hyper-successful UFC run. His only failure was his inability to dethrone the great Demetrious Johnson as flyweight champion in his only loss in the promotion.
Now, the Japanese star could have his second crack at UFC gold, which Pantoja is more than happy to accommodate, saying as much in an MMA Fighting interview.
"It's gonna be a pleasure if I fight with him for the belt. Just for the belt. I don't believe I'd fight with Kyoji without the belt, but for the belt. We are talking about that. It's gonna be like a gift, this opportunity to fight with Kyoji for the belt."
Check out Alexandre Pantoja's thoughts on fighting his teammate (10:10):
Teammates usually avoid matchups with each other, as was the case with Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva, who refused to fight each other due to both of them training at Black House MMA. However, there have been cases of teammates fighting each other, like Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.
Both men were teammates at the Blackzillians and still are at Kill Cliff FC. Nevertheless, Usman defended his welterweight title against Burns at UFC 258, TKO'ing him after two rounds of stiff competition. Another instance of teammates fighting each other was Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.
During the earlier years of Jones' UFC run, the two men competed in the light heavyweight division. They trained at Jackson Wink MMA, facing off at UFC 145 in an emotionally draining bout that saw Jones successfully defend his light heavyweight strap via unanimous decision.
Alexandre Pantoja has already beaten a former RIZIN champion
Like Kyoji Horiguchi, Kai Asakura was a RIZIN champion, though he reigned at bantamweight instead of flyweight. He left the Japanese promotion in pursuit of UFC gold, facing Alexandre Pantoja for the Brazilian's flyweight strap at UFC 310. Unfortunately for Asakura, it was a lopsided loss.
Although he showed flashes of brilliance in the striking department, he was ultimately overrun by Pantoja, who submitted him with a rear-naked choke within two rounds.