Danny Kingad’s spot at the highly-anticipated ONE 164 on December 3 is in great jeopardy as the Filipino phenom’s opponent has been forced to withdraw from their pivotal flyweight encounter.
A reliable source told the author of this article that Gurdarshan Mangat sustained an undisclosed injury in training, which compelled the Indian-Canadian standout to beg off from their scheduled joust against the 27-year-old Baguio City native.
Mangat’s unforeseen pullout was later confirmed during Team Lakay’s online press conference on Thursday, October 27.
Kingad has no other choice but to take a wait-and-see approach as ONE Championship works on securing a suitable replacement to fill in for Mangat with a little over a month to go before the live event—which is set to take place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
The hard-hitting Team Lakay representative has not seen action since dropping a unanimous decision to former ONE flyweight champion Kairat Akhmetov.
Moreover, the last time Kingad had his hand raised in triumph was when he had to go through the wringer opposite China’s Xie Wei to eke out a razor-thin unanimous decision in January 2020.
“The King” plans on breaking his year-long hiatus by placing himself back on the winning track as well as tightening his grip on the No. 4 spot in the promotion’s ever-shifting flyweight rankings.
Joining Kingad on the card is his best buddy Joshua Pacio, who stakes the coveted ONE strawweight belt against brash American challenger Jarred Brooks in a grudge match delegated to headline the affair.
Three more notable names from the legendary Team Lakay are slated to take on foreign opposition at ONE 164.
Kingad and Pacio’s veteran teammate and former ONE flyweight titleholder Geje Eustaquio is scheduled to lock horns with China’s Hu Yong.
Meanwhile, Jenelyn Olsim could be on the verge of entering the Top Five of the women’s atomweight division as she goes head-to-head with Chinese spitfire Meng Bo.
Lastly, Jeremy Pacatiw has his sights on returning to his winning ways by squaring off against Myanmar’s Tial Thang.
