Danny Kingad averted what could have been a disastrous night for host Philippines after eking out a split decision victory over Australian Reece McLaren in ONE: Dawn of Heroes at the Mall of Asia Arena Friday night.
Kingad, who had to alter his game plan after the injured Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan was replaced by McLaren, struggled early before grabbing the win with a takedown with 2:24 left in the third of their World Grand Prix Semifinal Flyweight bout.
The win enabled Kingad to share the limelight with Australian-Vietnamese Martin Nguyen and Thai Rodtang Jitmuangnon who scored contrasting wins in the featured match.
Nguyen claimed a second-round technical knockout over Japanese challenger Koyomi Matsushima to keep his ONE featherweight crown while Jitmuangnon dethroned Super Series flyweight champion Jonathan Haggerty of Britain via a unanimous decision.
The triumph not only improved Kingad’s fight record to 11-1 but also propelled him to the finals in the ONE: Century in Japan in October against heavy favorite Demetrious Johnson, who displayed his grappling prowess to outclass Tatsumitsu Wada of Japan.
McLaren slipped to 12-7.
Kingad’s win proved to be the only bright note for Team Lakay as its fighters fell like dominoes including Eduard Folayang, who yielded to veteran Eddie Alvarez in a first-round submission loss in the World Grand Prix Semifinal Lightweight bout.
Folayang attacked early but his ploy did not work out after Alvarez saw an opportunity that led to a rear naked choke win with 2:43 left in the opening round.
Also not fortunate were Edward Kelly, who lost to Chinese Xie Bin in a technical decision, Honorio Banario, who bowed to Korean Dae Sung Park and Geje Eustaquio, who suffered a stunning knockout defeat to Japanese Yuya Wakamatsu in a stunning knockout defeat. (KRISTEL SATUMBAGA)
