Danny Kingad. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Danny Kingad was a whirling derby during his first 14 fights, going on a 13-1 record before he stumbled upon arguably the greatest fighter of all time in Demetrious Johnson.
Kingad was carrying a six-fight winning streak until Johnson put on a master class against Kingad en route unanimous decision win in the finals of the Flyweight Grand Prix in ONE: Century.
It was a tough loss for Kingad, considered as one of the up and coming contenders in his division, but he is using his experiences from the past year to emerge a new fighter.
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“Everyone will see something new from me in the coming year,” said Kingad. “With everything that I learned about myself in 2019, the next year will be chance for me to show how much I have grown.”
“My personal goal is to win every match in order to become worthy of a World title challenge soon.”
Kingad, whose other loss in his career was against ONE World flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, can get back on the winners’ circle when he takes on Xie Wei in the undercard of ONE: Fire and Fury on Jan. 31 at Mall of Asia Arena.
It was in that same venue that Kingad scored wins over Reece McLaren and Tatsumitsu Wada, giving him a sense of confidence as he goes back to ONE’s home in Manila.
And the bout against Xie is what Kingad would use as his acid test after learning valuable lessons against Johnson.
“I learned a lot,” said Kingad. “I was against top-caliber athletes who were able to make me realize some of my weaknesses, which I continuously work on to improve.
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“The experience of facing Johnson was very exciting and I was really happy because I was given a chance to be part of the Grand Prix.”
Kingad said he was honored to fight Johnson, 33, who is still on the physical prime of his career.
“Not everyone can get a chance to compete against an in-his-prime DJ, but I was also able to go toe-to-toe with him and push him for three rounds,” said Kingad of Johnson who tallied seven submissions and two knockouts before moving to ONE.