DANNY “The King” Kingad made no excuses after coming up short in his rematch with former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes.
The third-ranked contender submitted to Moraes in the second round of their fight at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug on November 9 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kingad did everything in his power to prepare for Moraes, from having an early start to training at different gyms to sharpening his various skill sets.
Unfortunately for him, Moraes was just too slick.
“I feel like this was my most comprehensive training camp. It was a really good camp. I had a longer time to prepare. It’s not just the length of the camp, it’s the training partners I was working with. They really helped me out. This is such a solid camp. I got all the help I needed,” Kingad said.
“He shouldn’t have gotten that submission on me, if our training and preparation were to be judged. We were expecting him to work by taking my back and controlling me there, but it was really unexpected.”
The Lions Nation MMA standout believes that he was doing well before that fateful guillotine choke in the second round, which makes this loss sting even more.
“I felt like I was ahead in that fight. Sure, he got a takedown, but I feel like I controlled him more and landed better shots. I feel like I was ahead, but I was unlucky. I got guillotined,” he said on the MMA Superfan.
“In the first round, I felt like I could really take him down and control him. I was really comfortable with taking him down. But it was so unexpected that he leapt and grabbed that guillotine.
“I felt like I hurt him in the first round. When he went for that arm bar, I started raining down punches, and I felt like he was already dizzy. But when I continued pouncing on him, I felt like he was able to recover, and that’s that,” he added.
While he wishes he would’ve made different choices during the fight, all he can do now is hit the reset button and start fresh.
“The regret will always be me going for that takedown carelessly. I really mistimed that takedown,” he said.
“As someone with back-to-back losses, it’s all about starting all over again, staying motivated in training. All’s not lost for my career.”
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