Kingad begins new quest for ONE flyweight belt

MANILA, Philippines – Danny Kingad will relaunch his flyweight title bid as he clashes with Xie Wei of China in the ONE: Fire and Fury on January 31 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Kingad, 25, won nine of his last 11 fights, including three last year that set him up against UFC legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the Flyweight Grand Prix finals where the former eventually lost in a three-round unanimous decision result.

“Everyone will see something new from me in the coming year,” said Kingad.

“With everything that I learned about myself in 2019, the next year will be a chance for me to show how much I have grown. My personal goal is to win every match in order to become worthy of a world title challenge soon,” he added.

Kingad, who shocked Reece McLaren, Senzo Ikeda, and Tatsumitsu Wada last year, is now 13-2 (win-loss) his career.

The loss to Johnson was a learning experience for Kingad.

“I learned a lot,” said Kingad.

“The experience was very exciting, and I was really happy because I was given a chance to be a part of (the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Championship).”

Kingad will be joined on ONE: Fire & Fury by his Team Lakay teammates, ONE strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio and Eduard Folayang. Pacio defends his ONE strawweight world title against Alex Silva in the main event, with Folayang battling Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight contest.