Danny Kingad says he ‘screwed up’ prep for Yuya Wakamatsu fight, vows to fix it for ONE 169: “It won't happen again”
Danny Kingad acknowledged his mistake against Yuya Wakamatsu, which will benefit him against Adriano Moraes.
Earlier this year, Kingad looked to strengthen his presence in the ONE flyweight MMA title picture against Wakamtsu, Unfortunately for Kingad, Wakamtsu proved to be the better fighter at ONE 165 and secured a unanimous decision win.
Kingad returned to the drawing board and now finds himself in a high-stakes matchup. On Nov. 8, 'The King' will be featured at the highly-anticipated ONE 169: Atlanta when he faces former flyweight king Moraes.
Moraes and Kingad first fought in November 2017, with the latter winning by first-round submission (rear-naked choke).
During an interview with The MMA Superfan, Kingad had this to say about what he learned from his loss against Wakamtsu:
"I don’t think I had a problem during training in my last fight, but my recovery prior to the fight really screwed me up. That’s something that I will have to focus on in this coming fight with Adriano. It won’t happen again this time around."
ONE 169 goes down inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The North American event currently features four world title fights. Tickets for the November 8 event can be found on Ticketmaster.
Watch Kingad's entire interview with The MMA Superfan below:
What's at stake between Danny Kingad and Adriano Moraes?
Number one-ranked Adriano Moraes and number three-ranked Danny Kingad were already fighting for an opportunity to secure a title shot. With that said, things changed drastically following a surprise announcement at ONE 168: Denver.
ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson made a special appearance at ONE 168 and emotionally announced his retirement. As a result, Johnson's world title was officially vacated, creating a need for a new title-holder.
'Mighty Mouse' recently claimed Moraes vs Kingad should be for the vacant ONE flyweight MMA world title. Therefore, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong could drastically boost the stakes of the already intriguing matchup.
Another factor to consider is Yuya Wakamatsu. The number two-ranked contender is coming off wins against Xie Wei and Kingad. Therefore, ONE could match him up against the winner of Moraes vs Kingad for the vacant throne.