ONE Championship: Danny Kingad itching to fight against Kairat Akhmetov after one-year layoff
Danny Kingad is set to fight once again in ONE Championship after a one-year layoff. 'The King' is matched up against Kairat Akhmedov in the ONE: Winter Warriors II fight card on December 17th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The bout was supposed to happen at the ONE Championship: Big Bang event slated to happen on December 4th. The fight was shelved after one of Kingad's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19.
In an online press conference, Kingad said:
"The first time I heard that our fight will be postponed because of the pandemic, I can’t really explain because it was Christmas and that is what happened to me. Now that this is happening, I am happy to fight him."
Kingad was later replaced by Dae Hwan Kim. Akhmetov defeated the South Korean at ONE Championship - Collision Course 2.
Meanwhile, Kingad had to wait for his chance to fight again. His excitement heading into this fight cannot be contained and he hopes to give his opponent a painful gift inside the cage. He said:
"We will experience a lot of fireworks and I have a lot of gifts for him."
Kingad is training to be a better fighter before returning to the ONE Championship cage
In getting his fight postponed, Kingad looked to turn the situation around by focusing on becoming a better fighter. He took time to improve his techniques at the Team Lakay stable.
"Last year when our fight did not push through, I just thought that day was not really for me. I told myself that I have a lot to improve. In the one year that I’m training, I was improving my weaknesses and I’m taking time to review his fights."
The 26-year-old fighter from Team Lakay has only lost twice in 16 professional bouts. Those two losses came against Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes. 11 of his wins came from decisions and he also owns two submission victories.