Watch: Kairat Akhmetov vs. Danny Kingad ahead of Akhmetov's return at ONE 158

Kairat Akhmetov, the Kazakhstani ONE Championship fighter, is returning to the circle at ONE 157 on June 3, 2022. Ahead of his match against Tatsumitsu Wada, rewatch his last fight.

Video from ONE Championship of Kairat Akhmetov vs. Danny Kingad is below.

In this fight, Akhmetov earned a dominant victory against the Filipino fighter Kingad. The Kazakhstani-born fighter controlled much of this fight from top-position utilizing superior wrestling and takedowns. Kingad was not able to mount much offense in this bout.

This fight gave Akhmetov four wins in a row in ONE Championship. On June 3 he will be looking to make it five and will look to earn a title shot. He is currently tied for one win and one loss to reigning champion Adriano Moraes. The two fighters traded the title back and forth in 2015 and 2017, but have not yet had a trilogy bout.

“The Kazakh” spoke to ONE Championship about potentially facing Moraes in a trilogy, he said:

“After winning this bout, I would like to fight for the title, or with Demetrious Johnson in my homeland, Kazakhstan. We have business to finish with Adriano Moraes. The score is 1-1. I think we ought to make it a trilogy. But I don’t want to make guesses. And all of Kazakhstan is waiting for a ONE Championship event here. This is my dream."

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The title and Kairat Akhmetov

"The Kazakh" Kairat Akhmetov has had a close relationship with the title in ONE Championship. He won the won the ONE Flyweight Championship in 2015 in a close split decision against Adriano Moraes.

Moraes next took the championship title back from Akhmetov in 2017, in a unanimous decision victory. As a non-titleholder, Akhmetov would defeat Geje Eustaquio, but then lose to Eustaquio in an interim title rematch.

Since then, he has won four bouts in a row against Haobin Ma, Reece McLaren, Dae Hwan Kim, and Danny Kingad. He will be looking to earn a fifth title win at ONE 158 against Japan's Tatsumitsu Wada, and will be seeking a titleshot soon after.

Speaking to ONE Championship, he explained that he is in his physical prime and it is the perfect time to seek a title. He said:

“At this moment, I’m at the peak of my capabilities. I was immature before my thirties. I started developing late in my life – it’s in my genes. Members of my family develop late. When my peers were strong and able-bodied, I still looked like a boy. My father used to tell me, ‘Time will come, and you will get stronger, but it will take some time.’ My physical parameters only started developing after 30. I think I will be at my best in the next two to three years.”