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Danny Kingad just experienced his third professional career loss during ONE Championship - Winter Warriors II at the hands of Kairat Akhmetov. 'The King' sits as the No.2-ranked flyweight prior to the fight and is not expected to be competing for a title shot after a rough defeat.
Kingad has been competing in ONE Championship since April 2016 and after his most recent loss, the Filipino fighter is now 10-3 in Asia's premier MMA promotion.
Akhmetov is expected to overtake him in the rankings with the loss. The setback is something Kingad accepts and will look to improve himself first before gunning for a belt in ONE Championship.
"This is what God gave me. I need to improve more to be ready for a title shot. These are the types of fights that give you learnings and see what else is to be improved," said Kingad in a post-match interview with the local media in the Philippines.
As of now, the 26-year-old fighter knows that he has to come back inside the ONE Championship cage and win his next bout before thinking of getting back into title contention.
Leading into his next fight in ONE Championship, Kingad will go back to the drawing board and return with a rejuvenated approach to the sport.
According to Kingad:
"Just get back to training, get back inside the gym, and be ready for whoever is my next opponent. It's important to get that win first before thinking of a title shot."
Danny Kingad breaks down his missed opportunities against Kairat Akhmetov in ONE Championship - Winter Warriors II
Recalling his match with Kairat Akhmetov, Danny Kingad admits that he was dominated by his opponent. Nonetheless, there were times during the fight that he could have turned the tide.
According to Kingad:
"In the second round, he was already tired. He was just forcing me not to stand up. I’m happy to get back standing up in the third round and get in a few strikes. I cannot explain it but I need to improve on a lot of things."
It had been almost a year since Kingad competed in ONE Championship and shrugged off the topic when asked if ring rust was a factor in the loss.
"It really depends on you on how you train. If you really train, you will really experience some rust. When you train every day you won’t experience ring rust."
