Kyoji Horiguchi Explains Decision To Battle Ian McCall At Rizin 10
UFC veterans are going to be colliding this coming May when Kyoji Horiguchi battles Ian McCall in the main event of Rizin 10.
McCall enters the bout coming off of a loss to Manel Kape in the Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix, but that loss hasn’t crushed McCall’s desire to fight a fellow UFC veteran.
“This will be my first fight in Fukuoka against a top fighter Ian McCall. I would like to put on a good performance to show the greatness of fighting. I would like to take on challenges this year, and would like start this year 2018 by winning against Ian McCall in a good way. Manel Kape vs Ian McCall was an accident, I don’t take anything away from Ian because of that fight. What he has done, and how he fought in the UFC, I have nothing but respect for him. I had plans for fighting Ian in the tournament, so I think I have a head start on my training camp I terms of strategy. He’s a very strong wrestler, so I think he’s going to try to take me down and grind. I don’t think he is going to want to stand with me at all. I have been training hard, and I will be ready to take on everything he delivers,” Horiguchi said at a press conference.
Horiguchi did wind up winning the Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix, defeating Shintaro Ishiwatari in the finals.
A potential super fight with kickboxing great Tenshin Nasukawa has been rumored for quite some time now and it is a bout that Horiguchi would readily accept.
“If the fight against Tenshin Nasukawa will help the Japanese fight community regain popularity, I would love to do it. I come from a Karate background so there would be no difference fighting him under kickboxing rules, it will be a regular fight without grappling. The size of gloves won’t matter, if I land he will go down. He may be the superstar in kickboxing, but I am confident that my standup is better,” says Horiguchi.
Rizin 10 takes place on Sunday, May 6 from the Marine Messe Fukuoka in Fukuoka, Japan with Kyoji Horiguchi and Ian McCall headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on Fite TV.
