When former 125-pound title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi returned to the Octagon last Saturday for the first time in nine years at UFC Fight Night in Qatar, there wasn't anyone happier or more impressed than his teammate, current flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

Horiguchi (35-5, 1 NC), who was 7-1 in UFC from 2013-16, with his only loss coming to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, returned last week to dominantly submit No. 11 Tagir Ulanbekov in Round 3. The native of Japan had previously spent the majority of the last decade fighting under the RIZIN banner, where he won titles at flyweight and bantamweight, including victories over Manel Kape, Ian McCall, Darrion Caldwell (twice), Kai Asakura and Sergio Pettis.

"I think everybody understands when you talk about Kyoji Horiguchi, [

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