Who is Danny Kingad's next opponent?
Third-ranked flyweight Danny “The King” Kingad will have a tough return to the ONE Championship Circle when he faces Eko Roni Saputra in a three-round MMA tussle at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II on Feb. 25 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Against Saputra, Kingad will face a highly confident flyweight, an Indonesian who will enter the bout with a seven-fight winning streak.
But who exactly is Saputra, and what threat does he pose to Kingad? Let’s take a look.
Accomplished Wrestler
Saputra has been wrestling since he was a kid and, in a sense, the sport was his ticket out of poverty in his hometown of Samarinda in Borneo.
After training in boxing with his father, he transitioned to wrestling and excelled in it, winning multiple national championships in Indonesia before representing the island-nation in the Southeast Asian Games, winning silver and bronze medals in the biennial regional meet.
With a solid wrestling base and background in boxing, mixed martial arts was the logical next step for the Indonesian, a path that he has successfully carved his way through.
Evolve MMA Representative
Looking to take mixed martial arts seriously, Saputra crossed the Strait of Malacca to join Evolve MMA in Singapore.
That’s where he truly started to see his potential as a mixed martial artist.
After losing his first match, a doctor stoppage loss to Niko Soe, Saputra won seven straight fights leading up to this bout against Kingad, with all of his wins coming by way of finishes.
With a solid wrestling base and the Evolve MMA camp behind him, he’s certainly turned himself into one of the most interesting fighters on the ONE roster.
Indonesia’s Finest
While the Philippines has had a good record against Indonesia when it comes to MMA, Saputra is probably the only Indonesian who has a winning record against Filipinos.
Currently, Saputra is 2-0 against Filipinos, stopping the likes of Kajie Ebin and Ramon Gonzales. Adding Kingad to his list of victims will certainly up his stock and catapult him into the rankings.
Not only that, he will certainly get on everyone’s radar, especially since the only people who have beaten Kingad are Demetrious Johnson, Adriano Moraes, and Kairat Akhmetov.
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