Kyogi Horiguchi: Adjusting the Point Karate Metagame

SAITAMA, JAPAN - DECEMBER 29: Kyoji Horiguchi of Japan enters the ring in the bantam weight bout during the RIZIN Fighting World Grand-Prix 2017 2nd Round at Saitama Super Arena on December 29, 2017 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)Kyoji Horiguchi was never really given a fair shake of things in the UFC‘s flyweight division. Thrust into a title shot against one of the greatest fighters of all time after only five years of professional competition, coming off a win over Louis Gaudinot, the conditions of his failure were set up from the start.

Horiguchi was forced into the role of the mouse fed to the snake that is Demetrious Johnson as one of the many prospects churned…