Teammate vs. Teammate?
Kyoji Horiguchi turned heads in his Octagon return as he smashed No. 11-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC Qatar this past weekend (Sat.,
Nov. 22, 2025), stopping him in the third round inside ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar (watch highlights).
Immediately after the victory, Horiguchi delivered a wholesome but fiery callout — directing his request at longtime teammate and current UFC Flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Watch it below:
Today, Pantoja responded, accepting Horiguchi’s challenge while offering nothing but praise for his friend’s performance.
“I’m so happy for Kyoji. Tagir is a very good fighter and Kyoji made a clinic. He looked perfect,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie. “This made me very happy because Kyoji is one of my hard training partners in the gym. Me and my family are very grateful to have Kyoji in my life. He brought my level up. I know 100 percent that because I have Kyoji as my teammate, is why I conquered this belt in UFC… Kyoji was the RIZIN champ, the Bellator champ, and he just missed the UFC. It’s something he wants…I think it’s very special if he can do that. He would be the only guy to achieve these belts in RIZIN, Bellator, and UFC.”
Pantoja is scheduled to defend his title next weekend at UFC 323 against No. 1 contender Joshua Van. If he gets through the rising Flyweight contender, he says he’d be honored to face Horiguchi next.
“I feel very honored, very grateful, and it’s going to be very special for me if I can win against Joshua Van and defend against Kyoji. It’s going to be a present for me,” Pantoja said. “It represents a lot to fight with someone very important in my life. But I don’t want to think about that right now because I have Joshua Van, a very good fighter. But I know a fight with Kyoji is going to be very hard for me because I have to hurt my friend…I’m very glad he made this callout. Maybe the only guy I can make trash talk with is Kyoji Horiguchi.”
Teammates fighting teammates is rare in modern MMA — loyalty often prevails over matchmaking — but when it does happen, it creates something special or heated. And if Pantoja vs. Horiguchi becomes reality, it could be one of the highest-level Flyweight bouts in years.
Time will tell.
