All hail, The King!
In his first official outing in 14 months, Danny Kingad delivered a performance for the ages to prove his point that he still belongs at the elite level of the flyweight division under the ONE Championship banner.
The No. 3-ranked flyweight from Sadanga, Mountain Province manhandled Indonesian opponent Eko Roni Saputra over the course of three rounds at ONE Fight Night 7, which took place at the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday.
Right from the get-go, Kingad’s caliber shined through, giving Saputra a rude awakening of the Filipino’s wealth of experience and depth in his abilities.
(C) ONEFC.com
“The King” caught the two-time Southeast Asian Games medalist by surprise with a beautifully-executed bodylock suplex to put the Indonesian down to the mat before going to work to take his back.
Although Saputra managed to get the top position and drop heavy artillery, Kingad remained unfazed as he swept his counterpart with ease to regain control of the grappling exchanges.
Down to the dying minutes of the opening salvo, Kingad and Saputra opted to figure in a toe-to-toe sequence and traded leather that drew a thunderous roar from the capacity crowd.
The Team Lakay member began the second stanza by emphatically slamming Saputra on the ground, but the opportunity to flaunt his expertise in the stand-up cropped up a few minutes later as he torched Saputra with lashing leg kicks and crisp punches to the body.
A spinning back elbow from Kingad placed Saputra in a precarious state as the Indonesian struggled to find his balance due to the stunning effect of the blow.
Kingad made a significant separation from him and Saputra in the third and final round, staving off every attack from his foe to ensure his dominant victory on the three judges’ scorecards.
(C) ONEFC.com
With the masterclass over Saputra, Kingad returned to the winner’s circle and penciled in the first victory on his ledger since January 2020 when he went through the wringer with China’s Xie Wei to notch a close unanimous decision.
Moreover, his professional mixed martial arts record vaulted to 15-3.
On the other hand, Saputra saw the abolition of his remarkable seven-match streak with the disappointing setback to Kingad—his first defeat since 2019—and fell to a 7-2 standing.
