Danny “The King” Kingad marks his long awaited return inside the ONE Circle against a familiar foe as he battles Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu at ONE 165: Rodtang vs. Takeru on Jan. 28 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
The two flyweights collide once again more than five years after their first face off at ONE: Conquest of Heroes back in September 2018 in Jakarta.
There, Kingad pulled off a unanimous decision victory over Wakamatsu to cement his place as one of the top contenders for the division’s brass ring.
But this time, the home crowd will be behind Wakamatsu as he looks to make his compatriots proud in this go-round.
Kingad, for his part, is also pumped for this match with the no. 2-ranked flyweight MMA contender now representing the colors of Lions Nation MMA as he reunites with former world champions Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.
Though he knows he can pull the repeat, the Igorot warrior isn’t resting on his laurels. “Matagal na rin since huli kaming naglaban at excited ako na i-test ulit yung skills ko laban kay Yuya,” he said.
And he’s raring to display his improvements as he looks to follow up his unanimous decision win over Eko Roni Saputra at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II back in February.
This bout will just be one of the few must see matches in this loaded Japan card headlined by two of the greatest pound-for-pound strikers on the planet when ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon welcomes heated rival and three-division K-1 World Champion Takeru Segawa in a kickboxing showdown.
Japanese legend and former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki will collide against American phenom “Super” Sage Northcutt in a matchup that’s been nearly three years in the making; top strawweight MMA contenders will also be in action with Hiroba Minowa and Gustavo “El Gladiator” Balart facing off and no. 2 Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane taking on Keito “Pocket Monk” Yamakita; and an exciting battle between Japanese atomweight stars in Itsuki “Android 18” Hirata and Ayaka “Zombie” Miura.