It is no secret that Danny “The King” Kingad is coming in as the underdog when he takes on Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the final of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.
But do not expect the fabled Team Lakay camp from Baguio to back down.
The pair clash in one of the featured matches in the historic ONE: CENTURY set on 13 October at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
“For DJ, welcome to Asia. The strawweight, flyweight, and bantamweight divisions are the best weight classes for Asians, and I guess that’s why he’s getting challenged here,” Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao said.
“He’s up for a grind. Of course, DJ is DJ, we cannot underestimate him. He’s the pound for pound king. But let’s see. Maybe Danny really is the king,” he added. “We’ll certainly prepare for this.”
Sangiao believes that Kingad’s path to the final made him a better athlete altogether.
Kingad outworked Senzo Ikeda in the first round of the Grand Prix before narrowly edging out former World Title contender Reece “Lightning” McLaren in the semifinals.
Those tough matches will certainly serve Kingad for the better in the future.
“If you’d look at the previous matches, Danny really had to thread the needle, which only goes to show that there’s no easy fight in this tournament. I’m happy we’re here,” Sangiao shared.
Like Kingad, Johnson was surprisingly pushed to the limit as well. The 12-time flyweight World Champion was pushed by Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu in the opener of the aforementioned tournament. And then he was surprisingly taken to the judges’ scorecards in the semifinals by Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada.
Johnson’s struggles against the Japanese pair gives Sangiao hope that “Mighty Mouse” is not invincible.
“I think we’ve seen DJ’s weakness. He already lost in the past and that’s what we’re looking at,” Sangiao shared.
“He has a strong side, but if he gets overpowered, he struggles.”
Tune in to watch ONE Championship’s next event, ONE: DREAMS OF GOLD, by downloading the ONE Super App. The action starts Friday, 16 August at 6:30pm local time.