Kyoji Horiguchi expresses interest in challenging 'really good friend' Alexandre Pantoja for UFC flyweight championship: "I want to fight with him"

Kyoji Horiguchi recently discussed whether he would like to return to the UFC and even expressed interest in challenging Alexandre Pantoja for his UFC flyweight championship. The flyweights are champions of their respective promotions and teammates at American Top Team.

'The Typhoon' has won gold in every major promotion he has fought in except for the UFC, where he was unsuccessful in his lone title shot against Demetrious Johnson in 2015. He has since gone on to win the Bellator bantamweight championship and both the RIZIN bantamweight and flyweight championship.

While speaking to MMA Mania's Drake Riggs, the reigning RIZIN flyweight champion confirmed reports that he still would like to return to the UFC. Horiguchi mentioned that he would like to challenge Pantoja and even shared a playful jibe he directed towards him in training. He said:

"Yeah, [I] still want [to] back [to the UFC] but I don't know...Yes, of course I can. They [UFC] don't want [me], I can't go...Yeah, [Pantoja and I are] really good friends, [it would be a] good fight...I want to fight with him, yeah...I think [it would be] a fun thing because, all the time I talking about UFC title shot then I told Pantoja, 'If I go to UFC, I can easily beat you up.' I say that, you know, but it's a joke."

Check out Kyoji Horiguchi's comments below:

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Kyoji Horiguchi still wants to achieve UFC success

Despite the door appearing to be closed for a UFC return at the moment, Kyoji Horiguchi expressed interest in achieving success in the promotion.

Although, 'The Typhoon' hasn't won a championship in UFC, he was still successful in the promotion with a 7-1 record. During the aforementioned interview, Horiguch said:

"I want [to win] every organization belt but you know, if they don't want [me back], I can't go...That's not my problem." [30:26 - 30:40]

Check out Horiguchi's full interview below: