Horiguchi vs Zulu

Who won Horiguchi vs Zulu?

Kyoji Horiguchi beat Nkazimulo Zulu by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of RIZIN DECADE, on Tuesday 31st December 2024 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 Horiguchi vs Zulu division, which meant the weight limit was pounds (0 stone or 0 KG).

This contest was for the Rizin Horiguchi Vs Zulu championship.

Horiguchi vs Zulu stats

Kyoji Horiguchi stepped into the octagon with a record of 33 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 5 by submission.

Nkazimulo Zulu made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 7 by submission.

This was Kyoji Horiguchi's 17th fight in Rizin, having made his debut for the promotion in 2017. Nkazimulo Zulu marked his 2nd fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2024.

Kyoji Horiguchi's Rizin record stood at 15-1-0, while Nkazimulo Zulu's came in at 1-1-0.

The stats suggested Horiguchi had a slight advantage in power over Zulu, with a 45% knock out percentage over Zulu's 40%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Zulu had a massive advantage over Horiguchi, boasting a 47% submission rate over Horiguchi's 15%.

Kyoji Horiguchi was the younger man by 1 year, at 34 years old.

Zulu had a 3-inch reach advantage.

Horiguchi was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 16 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 2 years and 9 months earlier than Zulu, whose first professional fight was in 2013. He had fought 29 more professional rounds, 95 to Zulu's 66.

Horiguchi vs Zulu form

Kyoji Horiguchi had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Sergio Pettis at RIZIN 47 on 9th June 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Yoyogi National Stadium, Shibuya, Japan.

Previous to that, he had beaten Makoto Takahashi at RIZIN 45 on 31st December 2023 by submission in the 2nd round in their Rizin Flyweight championship fight at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

Going into that contest, his fight against Makoto Takahashi at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN 2 on 31st July 2023 ended in a no contest.

Before that, he had defeated Hiromasa Ougikubo at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN on 31st December 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

He was victorious against Yuto Hokamura at RIZIN 38 on 25th September 2022 by submission in the 2nd round at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

Activity check

Horiguchi's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 5 months and 17 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 29 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Horiguchi vs Zulu?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for Horiguchi vs Zulu.