Danny Kingad reveals wanting to score knockout against Ikeda

Danny Kingad managed to hurt and drop Senzo Ikeda, but he still had to see the final bell when they met inside the cage on the undercard of ONE: A New Era this past weekend at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

Kingad, whose only defeat came at the hands of Adriano Moraes in 2017, is currently riding a five-bout win streak which all came by unanimous decision.

He wanted to secure a finish in ONE Championship's maiden event in Japan, but eventually had to settle with a decision.

Kingad throws a left hook at Ikeda. Photo courtesy of ONE

"He had a granite chin. He’s very strong. I really wanted that knockout, but it wasn’t meant to be as we had to settle for a decision," said Kingad.

"I really wanted a knockout win, but Japanese athletes are survivors. They have a strong spirit and they’re very tough to crack."

A win was nevertheless added to Kingad's record, and moved him up to the semi-finals of the ONE flyweight world grand prix. And while the victory may have seemed easy from the outside, Kingad tells a different story from his perspective inside the cage.

"He just proved why he is a Pancrase champion," he quipped. "I couldn’t seem to knock him down, no matter what I did. He really made things difficult for me up until the end." — LA, GMA News