Two years ago, injury forced Kyoji Horiguchi to relinquish both of his belts. Having reconquered one already, next week he will look to complete his comeback.
Horiguchi is not the only man fighting next week with Rizin bantamweight hardware in his trophy case. Former champ Manel Kape vacated the belt last April when he signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, only to see his promotional debut held up for nearly a year thanks to a series of opponent injuries and COVID-related cancellations. Kape’s UFC run so far has been shaky yet promising, going 1-2 with one borderline robbery of a loss, and one sensational knockout win marred by a bad weight miss.
What hasn’t changed yet is that several years into its existence, the belt has yet to be successfully defended a single time. That may change next year with a healthy Horiguchi and a card schedule approaching pre-COVID levels, but for now, here is the brief and tumultuous history of the Rizin bantamweight title. It tells the story of a division with some dazzling individual talents, but which has struggled to establish itself as a stable, competitive entity.
Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration