NEW YORK -- Bellator's bantamweight championship officially belongs to Japan.

Kyoji Horiguchi (28-2) claimed Bellator's 135-pound title in a unanimous decision win over Darrion Caldwell (12-3) in a cross-promotion bout during Bellator 222 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

It was Horiguchi's second victory over Caldwell in seven months, as part of a cross-promotion between Bellator and Japan-based promotion Rizin.

Horiguchi, 28, had already defended Rizin's bantamweight title against Caldwell, in a submission victory in December. Caldwell's belt was not up for grabs that night. But Friday's result means Horiguchi is now the champion of both promotions, even though he is under contract with only Rizin. As part of the deal between promotions, Rizin will send Horiguchi to Bellator once a year to defend the promotion's title.

The five-round rematch was slow and drew plenty of boos from the Garden crowd. Caldwell looked to take Horiguchi down throughout, and had some success doing so. Once he pulled him to the ground, however, he did very little damage. At times, it didn't even appear as if he was interested in doing damage, as he simply held on to Horiguchi's waist.

Horiguchi scored with elbows and punches from the bottom. He also caught Caldwell with a stiff left hand in the fourth round.

The judges scored it for Horiguchi 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47.

A former NCAA Division III wrestler, Caldwell surrendered the title he won in 2017. He recorded one defense of the belt, in 2018 against Leandro Higo.

Archuleta obliterates Dantas with walkoff knockout

Juan Archuleta (23-1) has laid his claim to title shots at 135 pounds and 145 pounds following a spectacular knockout of Eduardo Dantas.

Archuleta, of Hesperia, California, knocked out Dantas (21-7) with 1 second remaining in the second round, with a haymaker right hand to the chin. Dantas, a former bantamweight champion, remained on the ground for several minutes but eventually managed to walk out of the cage on his own. It is Archuleta's fifth consecutive win in Bellator, at both bantamweight and featherweight.

Immediately after the victory, Archuleta called for newly crowned bantamweight champion Horiguchi.

"I'm on an 18-fight win streak. I'm the No. 1 contender at 135 and 145,'" Archuleta screamed. "Horiguchi, where you at? You're not leaving the States with that belt!"

A teammate of former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, Archuleta looked to wrestle a little in the opening round, but also looked very comfortable on his feet. He utilized plenty of movement and appeared to have Dantas out of his rhythm. The knockout blow came as Dantas threw a naked front kick, which Archuleta countered beautifully.

It was a third loss in the past four bouts for Brazil native Dantas.