Kyoji Horiguchi showed why he’s the frontrunner to win the Rizin FF bantamweight grand prix tournament when he (literally) punched his ticket to the semifinal round with a first-round TKO of Gabriel Oliveira at Rizin FF 8. Despite the former UFC flyweight title challenger being at a noticeable size disadvantage, Horiguchi’s (21-2) slick striking more than made up for it. He dropped Oliveira (10-1) three times in the fight before the referee stepped in to halt the online-streamed pay-per-view headliner at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Horiguchi was by far the biggest star of the night at Rizin FF 8, which featured an announced attendance of 15,539. He walked to the ring to a significant applause from the audience, and his performance lived up to the excitement. Horiguchi found his range early in the bout, and from there, Oliveira had no chance