UFC Vegas 119 weigh-ins set flyweight rematch as one fighter misses mark

The UFC Vegas 119 weigh-ins are complete, with the main event now fully official for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 279. Flyweight rematch opponents Kyoji Horiguchi and Manel Kape both hit their marks, confirming a second chapter in a rivalry that began years ago outside the UFC and now carries real title-picture weight for the winner.

Horiguchi, 36, weighed in at 125 pounds exactly for the rematch. The Japanese flyweight first met Kape after returning from earlier stints in Rizin, and he earned a finish the first time around, submitting Kape with an arm-triangle choke in the third round at their initial meeting. For UFC Vegas 119, the stakes sharpen because Horiguchi is positioned to convert a win into a path toward contention.

Kape, an Angolan fighter, came in at 126 pounds, within the flyweight limit for the bout. He enters on momentum, with the reported context that he has won three straight since a recent setback described as a lackluster performance against Muhammad Mokaev. The most recent win highlighted in the weigh-in coverage was a knockout of Brandon Royval, which is presented as the biggest UFC win of Kape’s career.

The rematch timeline is also a point of context for fans tracking the flyweight division. According to the weigh-in report, Horiguchi and Kape previously fought in the 2017 Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix, nearly a decade ago relative to Saturday’s UFC main event. That long gap between meetings adds an extra layer of intrigue, since both fighters have evolved since their earlier days in a different promotion and rule set.

Not every fighter on the card made it through cleanly. Kevin Borjas missed weight by three pounds for his flyweight bout against Andre Lima, and will be fined 20 percent of his purse for coming in overweight. The same weigh-in reporting indicates that all other fighters on the UFC Vegas 119 card made weight.

Beyond the main event, the weigh-in results shape how the event will be navigated on fight night. A penalty for missing weight can sometimes influence corner strategy and tempo, even if the bout remains on the schedule. Here, the primary impact is procedural, but it still matters for competitive balance in a division where small physical advantages can translate quickly once the action starts.

UFC Vegas 119 is set to air in full on Paramount+, with prelims scheduled for 5 p.m. ET and the main card beginning at 8 p.m. ET, according to the weigh-in report. With the flyweight rematch confirmed on the scale, attention now turns to whether Horiguchi can replicate his prior submission success or whether Kape can correct what went wrong the first time and push the winner closer to the division’s next opportunity.