RIZIN 26 results: Kyoji Horiguchi gets his vengeance, reclaims title

By Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

On New Years Eve in Japan (Thursday morning in North America), RIZIN Fighting Federation wrapped up the year with the stacked RIZIN 26 event.

RIZIN 26, Kyoji Horiguchi

The card was headlined by a bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Kai Asakura and former champion Kyoji Horiguchi. The bout was a rematch of a non-title fight that Asakura won by knockout. This time around, Horiguchi evened the score with a first-round TKO, reclaiming the title and reasserting himself as one of the best bantamweights on earth.

In the RIZIN 26 co-main event, kickboxing wunderkind Tenshin Nasukawa picked up yet another win, this time at the expense of Muay Thai export Kumandoi Phetjaroenvit.

Elsewhere on the card, we saw Ayaka Hamasaki capture the RIZIN atomweight title with a submission of Miyuu Yamamoto, and big wins from stars like Mikuru Asakura, Takanori Gomi, Hideo Tokoro and Ulka Sasaki.

See the full results of the stacked RIZIN 26 card below (h/t Bloody Elbow):

RIZIN 26 Session 3

  • Kyoji Horiguchi def. Kai Asakura by TKO, R1 – RIZIN bantamweight title
  • Tenshin Naskuawa def. Kumandoi Phetjaroenvit by unanimous decision
  • Mikuru Asakura def. Satoshi Yamasu by TKO, R1
  • Takanori Gomi def. Kouzi by majority decision
  • Ayaka Hamasaki def. Miyuu Yamamoto by submission (scissor choke), R1 – RIZIN atomweight title

RIZIN 26 Session 2

  • Naoki Inoue def. Yuki Motoya by submission (RNC), R1
  • Kleber Koike def. Kyle Aguon by submission (darce choke)
  • Kyohei Hagiwara def. Ren Hiramoto by TKO, R2
  • Hideo Tokoro def. Shinobu Ota by Submission (Armbar), R2

RIZIN 26 Session 1

  • Yoshinari Nadaka def. Phetmalai Phetjaroenvit by TKO, R1
  • Ulka Sasaki def. Kenta Takizawa by Unanimous Decision
  • Kanna Asakura def. Ai Shimizu by Unanimous Decision
  • Shibatar def. Mr. X (Hiroya) by Submission (armbar) — Draw overturned to submission after review showed Hiroya tapped.
  • Kazuma Kuramoto def. Taiyo Nakahara by KO, R1
  • Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO, R1 — No Contest due to weigh-in miss

What was your favorite moment from RIZIN 26? Let us know in the comments!


Topics:

Kyoji Horiguchi RIZIN FF