By FCF Staff

Ahead of his second bout as RIZIN’s flyweight champ, Kyoji Horiguchi expects the Japanese-based promotion to continue to build out its flyweight division.

Horigicuhi (33-5) won RIZIN’s inaugural flyweight title last New Year’s Eve, by recording a submission win over Makoto Takahashi. This coming NYE at RIZIN 49, the 34-year-old will battle former Extreme Fighting Championship champ, Nkazimulo Zulu (16-6-1).

Ahead of RIZIN 49, Horiguchi spoke with MMA Fighting.com. While discussing RIZIN’s plans for flyweight, the former Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight champ reported he expects more fighters will be signing with the company. RIZIN’s next card will also see flyweight prospect Makoto Shinryu take on Jose Torres.

“I think RIZIN is in the process of gathering decent flyweight fighters from across the globe, and I think they’re working on it,” Horiguchi said. “Before this fight with Zulu was confirmed, they offered me Gadzhammatov, who just fought in November. I think he’s a really good fighter. He was a tough fighter, and I said OK to him. My plan was to fight him, but apparently, something happened, maybe an injury or whatnot, and he wasn’t able to fight. But I already accepted the fight against him. He’s a good prospect, a good fighter.”

The acrobatic Zulu made his RIZIN debut in September and recorded a TKO win over Jo Arai. The 35-year-old has won three straight.

“As far as my opponent himself, he’s very athletic, and he’s very explosive, and I think he’s a good fighter,” Horiguchi noted while discussing Zulu. “My plan is to face him wherever the fight takes me, either on the striking or on the ground. I’m going to fight in MMA, and that’s a plan.”

In the interview, Horiguchi also reported he plans to focus on flyweight for now. But, the decorated fighter said he could return to bantamweight in the future.

RIZIN 49 will be hosted by the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The card will feature two other title fights, as featherweight champ Chihiro Suzuki will battle Kleber Koike and lightweight champ Roberto “Satoshi” De Souza will face Vugar Karamov.