- George Chung
- Oct 30, 2024
- 2 min read
On November 8, Danny Kingad is hoping to punch his ticket to a shot at the vacant ONE Flyweight MMA World Title. The flyweight contender will meet the #1-ranked contender and former divisional king Adriano Moraes at ONE 169.
The meeting at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug will not be the first time the two have tangoed. Kingad challenged Moraes, who was then the champion, in 2017. Seven years later, he hopes to exact revenge.
“It’s an exciting time in the flyweight division. It’s wide open. I feel blessed that I’m still close to getting there, and it gives me the motivation to beat Adriano and maybe get the chance to compete for the vacant World Title,” Kingad stated to ONE.
“I think this fight is the way to get that World Title shot after seven long years. I’m motivated. The World Title is there for the taking, and I’m eyeing it.”
“Each time I have come close to the top before, I ended up losing. There’s no frustration, but I’m being more diligent now.”
“The King” believes he was not ready when they first met seven years ago. After years of tireless work, the 29-year-old feels he is ready to topple the talented Brazilian and move to the top of the division.
“The first time we faced each other, I stepped up to take him on. It was three weeks before the fight they called and gave me the opportunity to change opponents and get the World Title shot, so I took it. Back then, I was still studying. It’s totally a different case now. Right now, I’m truly focused. I’m ready for him,” the 29-year-old remarked.
“I’m highly motivated for this fight. I’ve learned and experienced a lot through the years. I know what I’m doing now. This time, I know that I can beat him, unlike before where I got shocked because it was just my third fight in ONE and I already got a World Championship bout against him.”
A secondary goal to getting the win is to finish the match.
Kingad is making it a goal after failing to earn a win by finish since arriving in ONE in 2016.
“It’s in my mind now to start finishing fights. In each fight that I don’t finish my opponent, it bothers me, and all I can do is to ask my coaches, go back to the drawing board, and continue to learn,” Kingad said.
“Right now, I’m working with boxing coach, Don Colas, to work on my power.”
Kingad may want the finish, but the primary objective is to win. To do so, he believes he has drawn up the right battle plans to achieve the biggest win in his career in front of a global viewing audience at ONE 169.
“I feel like I’ll adjust well in this fight. I’ve trained everything. I think it all boils down to formulating a perfect game plan and executing it to perfection,” Kingad commented.
“This is going to be a great fight. I’m looking for that knockout win. I’m going to get my hand raised.”
ONE 169 airs live and free on Friday, November 8, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Prime Video to all Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.
