Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight standouts Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Amir Albazi will go to war this weekend (Sat., Feb. 7, 2026) inside Meta APEX for UFC Vegas 113.
At 35 years of age, Horiguchi is back in the Octagon after a decade away, and he still looks pretty dang sharp! The RIZIN and Bellator kingpin took some losses just before rejoining the UFC roster, but he smashed Tagir Ulanbekov so definitively that there’s once again hope that “The Typhoon” can capture UFC gold. Standing opposite
him will be Albazi, who has fought just once in the last couple years. His return from injury and layoff saw a rather stiff-looking Albazi picked apart by former champion Brandon Moreno. He’s in serious need of a win and generally has to prove he’s still an elite contender after his health issues.
Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds and strategic keys for each athlete:
Horiguchi vs. Albazi Betting Odds
- Kyoji Horiguchi victory: -400
- Kyoji Horiguchi via TKO/KO/DQ: +500
- Kyoji Horiguchi via submission: +490
- Kyoji Horiguchi via decision: -105
- Amir Albazi victory: +285
- Amir Albazi via TKO/KO/DQ: +1800
- Amir Albazi via submission: +1400
- Amir Albazi via decision: +460
- Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
How Horiguchi Wins
Horiguchi may not be at the top of many fan-made “best strikers in the UFC lists,” but he very much is that good. He’s an absolutely elite example of Karate blended with boxing, best known for his weaving head movement to set up powerful punches. Oh, and how many times did he kick Ulanbekov in the face last time out?
It felt like a lot.
Historically, Horiguchi has had some difficulty with being pinned down on the canvas for long periods of time. Largely, these losses came either early in his career or up a weight class at Bantamweight — he’s not a big Flyweight!
Defending takedowns will be the primary key to victory here, because Horiguchi is likely to outclass Albazi on the feet. The gap in speed and fluidity on the feet is massive. Albazi’s head tends to stay stationary and too high, leaving it quite vulnerable to those weaving hooks that already catch opponents off-guard with a scary consistency.
To avoid the shot, Horiguchi just has to be diligent with his shot selection and cage position. If he avoids the fence and naked low kicks, he should have relatively little trouble continuing his win streak.
How Albazi Wins
I know I just wrote that Albazi is probably doomed, but he is a very good fighter. He looked bad in his last bout, sure, but there’s a chance that ring rust was a factor. Prior to that defeat, Albazi climbed into the Top Five on the strength of his dominant wrestling and powerful boxing.
Getting hold of Horiguchi is going to be a challenge, but Albazi isn’t winning this fight without some takedowns. He has to be aggressive and focused on cutting the cage. He’s actually benefitted by the fact that this bout will take place inside the APEX and its smaller cage, as Horiguchi will have less room to evade him.
Horiguchi is a difficult man to hit cleanly, so Albazi has to take what’s there. Focusing on low kicks and wide body punches will help him at least land on target and build combinations. Obviously, there’s a risk of getting countered while advancing, but Albazi will have to play in that fire if he’s to have a shot at getting his wrestling going.
Ultimately, we have seen Horiguchi hurt by strikes on multiple occasions, while Albazi has some power and is historically durable. If he’s aggressive and forces an ugly fight, he just might clip the Japanese standout.
Horiguchi vs. Albazi Prediction
In case the the above didn’t make it clear, I believe the odds are justified and Horiguchi should be heavily favored here based on their most recent appearances. Albazi is a talented Flyweight with some solid physical gifts who certainly has a puncher’s chance, but he’s likely to be picked apart badly on the feet. Unless Horiguchi has fallen off a cliff in the last three months, the speed difference feels like too massive a gulf to overcome.
Final call: Albazi ends up stranded at distance and rendered defensive for three rounds.
