Entering what is easily the biggest bout of his career, Danny “The King” Kingad looks back on what made him the athlete he is today – his lone loss.
In November of 2017, the 24-year-old competed for the ONE Flyweight World Championship. He lost after just one round to Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes at ONE: Legends of the World by rear-naked choke.
Six matches after that fateful night, the Team Lakay standout has developed into one of the most dynamic athletes in the tournament. Now, he’s about to enter the biggest bout of his career.
“In the last two years, I was able to develop as a mixed martial artist because I watched all my mistakes and worked on them in the gym so I can prevent them from happening again in my next bouts,” Kingad said.
“I used to be very impulsive, but now I realize that I am more relaxed and tactical. I also improved my ground game.”
In the historic ONE: Century Part I, Kingad takes on his biggest challenge in 12-time Flyweight World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
Now riding a six-bout winning streak, the Baguio City native is confident he will be an entirely different athlete when he takes on the Madisonville, Kentucky native in the morning show of the two-part extravaganza.
And while winning the Grand Prix over Johnson would be big, “The King” still has his eyes on the prize.
“It’s a different Danny Kingad after that defeat. We are training differently now,” Kingad said.
“I am more focused now. I am more determined to get the World Title. That loss developed me to be more mature.”
Despite coming in as an underdog against who many consider the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, the Filipino remains undaunted.
With the spotlight on him — since the card is set to air live on primetime in the United States — Kingad is bent on making an introduction.
“It doesn’t matter who the underdog or the favorite is, because I believe all of us athletes train well with the goal of winning,” Kingad said.
“I’m ready to show the world just how good we Filipinos are in this sport, and I’m going to do that by pulling off an upset against one of the favorites in the tournament!”
Catch ONE: Century, the biggest World Championship martial arts event in history. No organization has ever promoted two full-scale World Championship events in one day, with 28 World Champions competing in multiple World Title bouts.
PART I airs live at 11:00am Philippine Standard Time (PHT) on Sunday, 13 October. TV5 will cut-in to live broadcast 10:30 am.
PART II airs on ABS-CBN S+A or Cignal TV at 6:30pm Philippine Standard Time (PHT). TV5 will show the special delay live at 9:30pm PHT.
All preliminary matches air on ONE’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.
