One of the main card bouts for UFC Fight Night 75 is a flyweight contest between the #7 ranked Kyoji Horiguchi and #13 ranked Chicho Camus. Horiguchi coming off a humbling defeat to Demetrious Johnson, while Camus lost a decision to hyped prospect Henry Cejudo in his last contest. They both look to get back into the win column tonight (Sept. 26, 2015). Kyoji Horiguchi (15-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC, -350 favorite) Horiguchi was rushed into a title shot this past April because there were simply not any viable contenders. Johnson had beaten everyone that could conceivably challenge him and Kyoji was the only one left. The bout went about as expected. Johnson controlled the action from start to finish and even managed to set a record in the process. Demetrious got Horiguchi to submit to an armbar with exactly one second left in the fight, which was a UFC record. Although Kyoji was rushed into a title shot, he still had several impressive outings during his six-fight UFC career. He knocked out Jon delos Reyes and Dustin Pague, and completely dominated Darrell Montague and Louis Gaudinot. He looks for his fifth UFC victory tonight in his home country. The 24-year old is a protégé of Japanese legend Kid Yamamoto, which is evident by his fighting style. The second degree black belt blitzes his opponents with striking combinations, which is similar to the strategy Lyoto Machida uses. He has big power in his hands, which is complimented by very hard kicks to the body. One of his favorite techniques is to land a punch or leg kick on a clinch break. One of the better aspects of Kyoji’s game is his footwork and movement. He is constantly moving and cutting angles, which makes him tough to hit. Horiguchi’s defensive wrestling may be his weakest area. He is still young so I am sure he has been working hard on improving that aspect of his game. He also does not have much to offer from his back, though he does have thunderous ground and pound when he achieves top position. Chio Camus (14-6 (1 NC) MMA, 3-3 (1 NC), +290 underdog) Camus has had an up and down run to his UFC career. Starting out at 135 pounds he went 2-2 with one no contest during his five-fight stint in the bantamweight division. During that run he scored wins over Dustin Pague, Kyung Ho Kang, and Yaotzin Meza (although this win was overturned and declared a no-contest due to a drug test failure.) After a loss to a much larger Chris Holdsworth in 2014, Camus dropped down to the flyweight division. You could immediately see the difference once he made the drop to 125 pounds. He is quicker, cuts better angles, and has significantly better takedown defense. One of his main problems at 135 pounds was his poor takedown defense and inability to get back to his feet. On the feet he utilizes a lot of single punches, though he does throw a fair amount of combinations. His left hook to the body and head, as well as well-timed front kick are some of his best techniques. Camus now has drastically better footwork and lateral movement, which makes him harder to hit and grab on to. Further, his ground game is pretty sneaky, both from the bottom and top position Thoughts This is a somewhat interesting fight because both fighters are coming off of losses in high profile fights. Horiguchi is definitely the more dangerous fighter and he will have the hometown advantage. He is also younger, faster, and is the more effective striker. Camus never really hurts guys when he hits them and to win this fight he needs to get Horiguchi’s respect early. I just don’t see it happening. In a somewhat dull striking affair, Horiguchi will take home a decision The Prediction: Koji Horiguchi defeats Chio Camus by unanimous decision
