Danny Kingad continued to prove that he is one of the top prospects in ONE Championship’s flyweight division. But as his rise continues, so does the downfall of division-mate Eugene Toquero.
Kingad survives late scare in battle of prospects
Team Lakay’s young gun Danny Kingad (5-0) showcased both his skills and his resiliency, surviving a late triangle choke attempt by Malaysian Muhammad Aiman (2-2) to take a unanimous decision win.
An early low blow marred by Aiman marred the beginning of the bout, but the 21-year-old Ifugao was able to shrug it off. Like a pitbull, Kingad continuously hounded his opponent with takedowns and rained on short elbows on his opponent for the next two rounds.
Wanting a finish, the Baguio-native closed out both rounds with d’arce choke attempts, but was not able to lock it in.
In the final round, Aiman was able to lock in a triangle choke with two minutes left. However, his attempt was futile as his left leg was too high. The Filipino prospect was able to escape the hold with 30 seconds left and unleashed a final fury, to the delight of the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Kingad snapped the winning run of his 22-year-old opponent, who fell to an even slate.
Toquero loses three in a row
A late flurry from Eugene Toquero (8-5) was not enough to sway the judges on Friday night, as the performance of Indonesian flyweight Stefer Rahardian (6-0) in the first two rounds proved to be enough to take a unanimous decision win.
Toquero has yet to win since December of 2015.
The 36-year-old Filipino opened the fight with a hip throw but was quickly reversed by the ONE Indonesia Flyweight tournament winner. A mad scramble later on resulted in the Indonesian gaining mount with two minutes left. Toquero displayed resilience by surviving the round.
Seeing Toquero’s weakness, Rahardian quickly went for a successful shoot, and spent the majority of the second stanza on top. With the crowd cheering him on, Toquero went for a guillotine choke to close out the round, but his opponent was luckily saved by the bell.
Rahardian completely toyed with Toquero on the mat in the final round. Despite this, Toquero went on a late flurry but it could not save him from the impending result.
With the win, the 30-year-old Indonesian can now be considered to be in the upper echelon of ONE’s stacked flyweight division.
Xie stops Rhotana
Chinese bantamweight “The Stalker” Xie Bin (3-2) made sure that he left a mark in Manila, dominating Cambodian Chan Rothana (4-3) in the first round before finishing him off in the second round.
The 19-year-old Chinese fighter took his opponent down with ease in the opening round. The Kun Khmer specialist tried to secure a guillotine choke to end the opening round but Xie was able to get out of the predicament to close out the round with side control.
Getting a feel of his opponent, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist was able to take his opponent down once again before locking in a d’arce choke for the tap out.
The Stalker is now a winner of three straight bouts.
ONE Championship: Kings of Destiny Results
April 21, 2017 – SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City
Flyweight bout: Danny Kingad def. Muhammad Aiman via unanimous decision
Flyweight bout: Stefer Rahardian def. Eugene Toquero via unanimous decision
Bantamweight bout: Xie Bin def. Chan Rothana via submission (d’arce choke), Rd 2 1:46
