Former Bellator and Rizin FF bantamweight world champion Kyoji Horiguchi returns to the Bellator cage to challenge current champion Sergio Pettis in a dynamite bout at Mohegan Sun on December 3.
Pettis and Horiguchi will do battle for the 135-pound title at Bellator 272, with the Japanese star looking to recapture the title he never lost in the cage.
Horiguchi put a new slant on champ-champ status when he became a two promotion world champion as he won the bantamweight belts in both Bellator and Rizin FF.
But injury forced Horiguchi out of action, and he honourably took the swift decision to relinquish both belts to allow the respective promotions’ bantamweight divisions to move on.
Now Horiguchi is back with Bellator after signing a new deal with the American promotion, and he will challenge Pettis, who has produced the best form of his career since moving up to bantamweight and joining Bellator following a stint in the UFC.
Pettis has won each of his three bouts as a Bellator fighter, with his most recent outing seeing him outpoint Juan Archuleta to capture the Bellator bantamweight title.
His first test as champion will be to turn back the challenge of the former champ, who will be looking to pick up where he left off by recapturing the title and embarking on a run as champion.
Photo credit: Rizin FF