For the last man in Mark Sangiao’s fight wishes for his wards, the Team Lakay head coach and spiritual leader revealed he wants to pit his “The King” against Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes for some unfinished business.
It will be recalled that it was Moraes who dealt Kingad the first loss of his professional career. Not only that, it happened in Kingad’s first ever title shot.
Sangiao believes that Kingad’s losing to the reigning ONE Flyweight World Champion in 2017, set “The King” off on a path of learning. He said Kingad learned more in that loss than he did in any of his wins.
As a result of the loss, the Filipino star is developing at an exponential rate, and Sangiao is simply amazed at what he sees.
“Danny has improved so much in just the span of three years. He’s worked so hard in every facet of his game. There’s no stopping this young man from achieving his goals. Fans will be surprised with just how good Danny is now compared to just a few months ago. He’s used this time off wisely to refocus and rededicate himself to proving himself as one of the best in the world at his weight class.”
“I think Danny learned so much from the first fight with Adriano, and now he’s a completely different fighter. He has so much more experience.” Sangiao said.
Sangiao now firmly says his ward will show a different result if he meets the champ again.
Rundown on coach’s fight wish list
Moraes is expected to defend his title against ONE Flyweight Grand Prix World Champion and 12-time former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, a title he won at the expense of Kingad during the final match.
Sangiao is confident Kingad would destroy Moraes now, regardless of whether or not the Brazilian remains champion after the Johnson bout.
“I know Danny will beat Adriano the next time they meet in the Circle, Whether Moraes will remain champion after his fight with Johnson, that remains to be seen. But whether or not Moraes is champion, Danny is ready to fight him,” concluded Sangiao.
A quick look at the latest ONE rankings will reveal that Kingad is the second highest ranked contender in the Lightweight Division.
He is 14-2 in his MMA career and just has to get over the hump of his inability to hack out a win against the best of the best.
Kingad’s latest loss did little in affecting his stature as it came against one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter in Johnson.
Before this unanimous decision loss, Kingad racked up a nice six bout winning run.
Kingad should be getting a shot at the title after Johnson, who is ranked second in the division, and Moraes have their title match.
Sangiao is right in wishing the Moraes fight but it is clear that “The King” has to get past the Brazilian and the American before he can be truly recognized as a legitimate ruler of this division.
Truth to be told, Kingad may not have been a champion in ONE but he has the best opportunity to become the best ranked Team Lakay fighter in the world.
It’s because opportunities to face highly-rated and highly-regarded guys like Johnson and Moraes doesn’t come often.
Kingad had stated that experiencing his first career loss to Moraes will stick with him for as long as he competes.
He should be treating his only other career loss to Johnson the same way and learn from it.
Good things should be coming Kingad’s way if he could find a way to get successful revenges against these two giants of ONE flyweight division.
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS