Horiguchi vs Ougikubo

Who won Horiguchi vs Ougikubo?

Kyoji Horiguchi beat Hiromasa Ougikubo by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN, on Saturday 31st December 2022 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Kyoji Horiguchi.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

Horiguchi vs Ougikubo stats

Kyoji Horiguchi stepped into the octagon with a record of 30 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Hiromasa Ougikubo made his way to the cage with a record of 25 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws, 1 of those win coming by knock out and 6 by submission.

This was Kyoji Horiguchi's 5th fight in Bellator, having made his debut for the promotion in 2019. Hiromasa Ougikubo marked his 1st fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2022.

Kyoji Horiguchi's Bellator record stood at 2-2-0, while Hiromasa Ougikubo's came in at 0-1-0.

The stats suggested Horiguchi had a massive power advantage over Ougikubo, boasting a 50% knock out percentage over Ougikubo's 4%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Ougikubo had an advantage over Horiguchi, with a 24% submission rate over Horiguchi's 13%.

Kyoji Horiguchi was the younger man by 4 years, at 34 years old.

Horiguchi had a height advantage of 2 inches over Ougikubo.

Horiguchi was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 2 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 3 years and 7 months later than Ougikubo, whose first professional fight was in 2006. He had fought 1 less professional rounds, 95 to Ougikubo's 96.

Horiguchi vs Ougikubo form

Horiguchi had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Kai Asakura at RIZIN 26 on 31st December 2020 by knockout in the 1st round in their Rizin Bantamweight championship fight at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Previous to that, he had lost to Kai Asakura at RIZIN 18 on 18th August 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Dolphins Arena, Nagoya.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Darrion Caldwell at Bellator 222 on 14th June 2019 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Bantamweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Before that, he had defeated Ben Nguyen at RIZIN 15 on 21st April 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan.

He was victorious against Darrion Caldwell at RIZIN 14 on 31st December 2018 by submission in the 3rd round in their Rizin Bantamweight championship fight at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

Hiromasa Ougikubo had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had been beaten by Soo Chul Kim at RIZIN 38 on 25th September 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Previous to that, he had won against Naoki Inoue at RIZIN 33 on 31st December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena(さいたまスーパーアリーナ), Saitama.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Kai Asakura at RIZIN 33 on 30th December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena(さいたまスーパーアリーナ), Saitama.

Before that, he had defeated Takafumi Otsuka at RIZIN 30 on 19th September 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena(さいたまスーパーアリーナ), Saitama.

He was victorious against Takeshi Kasugai at RIZIN 28 on 13th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Tokyo Dome(東京ドーム), Bunkyo.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Hiromasa Ougikubo had been fighting more than Kyoji Horiguchi.

Going to this contest, Kyoji Horiguchi had last fought 4 years, 5 months and 27 days ago, while Hiromasa Ougikubo's last outing had been 2 years, 9 months and 2 days ago.

Horiguchi's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 5 months and 27 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 19 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

Ougikubo's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 22 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Horiguchi vs Ougikubo?

Kyoji Horiguchi was a 2/9 (-450) favourite going into the contest, while Hiromasa Ougikubo made his way into the ring at 3/1 (+300) with oddsmakers.