ONE Championship: Danny Kingad eager to show Kairat Akhmetov a new version of himself

Danny Kingad is set to step inside the ONE Championship cage once again after waiting for two long years. His opponent will be Kairat Akhmetov and both fighters have been pitted to take on each other for the longest time prior to the pandemic. Finally, both fighters are set to meet on December 17 during the ONE: Winter Warriors II fight card inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Currently, Kingad is currently ranked #2 in the flyweight division behind top-contender Demetrious Johnson. Looking to take his place and make a jump in the rankings is Akhmetov, who sits at #4.

The last time Kingad saw action in ONE Championship was back in January 2020 right before the pandemic struck where he defeated Wei Xie via unanimous decision. During his time away from the cage the Filipino fighter has kept himself busy by sharpening his MMA skills.

"As an athlete, we find ways so we better ourselves in any aspect of martial arts like wrestling, grappling, and striking and I can do all of that," said Kingad in an interview with ONE Championship.

Now at 26 years old, he is excited to measure himself against a former champion in ONE Championship and show what he has been working on.

"It’s been a while since I last fought, it’s been two years already. A lot of people might think that I already have ‘ring rust’, but of course in those two years, I’ve worked on myself, I worked on my skills. I’m definitely confident that I’m going to win this fight and of course, I focus on my defense and on my wrestling. I am also good at striking, I’m confident with that. As I’ve said earlier, I’ve improved everything, all my skills," Said Kingad.

Prior to the fight with Akhmetov, Kingad had only lost once in his last eight bouts against Demetrious Johnson. It was the second loss of his professional MMA career as he now carries a record of 14-2.

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Danny Kingad looks for an impressive victory to earn a title shot in ONE Championship

It has been four years since Danny Kingad had his title shot against Adriano Moraes during the ONE Championship - Legends of the World fight card. Since then, 'The King' has been trying to find his way back into title contention. He hopes to get another title shot after defeating Kairat Akhmetov in ONE: Winter Warriors II.

The 26-year-old will look to end the fight in impressive fashion in order to earn another title shot against his longtime rival Adriano Moses.

"If I beat Kairat this would mean a lot for me. I would have to train harder so I could go with the title shot or anything else," said Kingad. "I think it’s hard to say my prediction but we’ll see on Friday. This is going to be an exciting match."