“Karate Kid” will be back.
-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight, Kyoji Horiguchi, suffered a third-round knockout loss to Manel Kape in UFC Vegas 119’s main event last night (Sat., June 20, 2026) inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).Following the disappointing stoppage loss, the Japanese star released a short message on social media addressing his fans.
“Thank you all for your support.
I got knocked out pretty badly. I’m truly sorry.Kape was strong. Thank
you!
This is why I can’t quit martial arts.
I’ll retrain and be back in no time!
I’m not giving up on my dream yet.”
Horiguchi (36-6-1) suffered his first loss since returning to UFC and had his impressive seven-fight win streak snapped. During that run, he scored notable wins over Sergio Pettis, Amir Albazi and Tagir Ulanbekov (watch highlights).
For what it’s worth, Horiguchi was up on the scorecards going into round three.
While Horiguchi remains one of the best Flyweights in the world, the loss has knocked him out of immediate title contention. Before Saturday’s setback, he was trying to set up a dream title fight with teammate Alexandre Pantoja, assuming Pantoja reclaims the Flyweight title later this year.
That dream will have to wait.
For now, a “Japan vs. Japan” showdown with Tatsuro Taira feels like the perfect next move.
