In a battle between two exciting young prospects on 21 April, Muhammad Aiman takes on Danny Kingad in a flyweight encounter at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY. It will be home ground for the Philippines’ Kingad, with the bout taking place at Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena, but Malaysia’s Aiman will be looking to upset the Team Lakay standout.

Aiman has the credentials to do it, as a prominent amateur champion and now 2-1 as a professional. Big wins aren’t out of his reach either, as he showed last time when he finished third-degree BJJ black Eduardo Novaes via TKO. 

The unblemished 4-0 record of his opponent will not faze Aiman, nor will the thousands of vocal Filipino fans who are sure to get behind their countryman. The 22-year-old knows he needs to go in there and focus on what he brings to the table, rather than worry about elements outside of his control.

“You’ve got to go in there and fight. I do not think about [Kingad] that much. I just think about myself and improving. Sometimes, there is no game plan. You just go in and give everything you’ve got,” said the Malaysian.

Aiman is renowned for doing just that, and his “everything” may include spinning, flying, and rolling techniques, depending what the situation calls for. This makes him a thrilling fighter to watch, and potentially an awkward one to compete against.

“If I was fighting a guy that was always doing something new, I would be a little intimidated,” he offered, trying to guess his opponent’s state of mind coming into the contest.

Nicknamed “Jungle Cat”, the unorthodox nature of the Bali MMA product will hopefully be enough to level the playing field in the cage. His performances with ONE Championship so far have been proof of his talent, and he’s gone 2-0 with the promotion since a loss in his professional debut. 

Claiming a victory over an unbeaten prospect from a gym that houses world champions would do wonders for the reputation and standing of the former featherweight, and hopefully mark Aiman out as a real force to be reckoned with. After all, Kingad trains with reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang, as well as the likes of Kevin Belingon, and former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario, who will all be competing on the same card. 

As he measures his “craziness versus control”, Aiman must strike the right balance to start taking victories from increasingly formidable opponents. However, there will always be the itch to just go for broke, something in his nature that will never change – not that fans would object.

“If I can go for it, I go for it,” he states. The “it” in question could be a cartwheel kick, or the biggest win of his career behind enemy lines. On 21 April, at the Mall of Asia Arena, the world will find out, and in acrobatic fashion, no less.

Toni Tauru is a man that has already won the game of life, several times over.

On 21 April, at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY, “Dynamite” looks to establish a new winning streak when he locks horns with the hard-hitting Kevin Belingon at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. The Finn once boasted a 10-fight winning streak, but is only just recovering from a three-fight skid.

Stepping inside the cage come fight night, Tauru will be propelled by a lifetime full of competition, and a family environment that facilitates the same.

Tauru hails from the small village of Utti in Kouvala, Finland. Known for its distinction as the home of the country’s first air force base, “Dynamite” remembers it more for being a place where he found a love of sports and competition.

“Finnish kids love winter sports, and I was no exception. I have done ice hockey, snowboarding, and skiing,” the 32-year-old recalls. “Summer is usually the best couple of months. Everybody plays football. I played for nearly 10 years on many different teams.”

Competing didn’t stop in the snow or on the football field. Tauru grew up to be an avid gamer. He was so enthused about the hobby that he briefly considered pursuing it as a career.

“Being a professional gamer was one of my dreams as well,” said Tauru. “If I was not fighting for living, that might have been my road.”

While professional gaming didn’t pan out for the Finnish fighter, he’s gotten something even greater in the process: The father of two gets to share both of his current loves with his two children.

“I have been a dad for 11 years now. I do not even remember what is it like not being a dad. I love my kids, and want to set a great example for them,” he states. “Of course, I am not perfect, as nobody is, but I am still doing my best in that area.

“I am so happy now that I actually have common interests with both my son and daughter, as they both love sports and video games.”

If “Dynamite” has his way, both Tauru children will follow in their dad’s footsteps.

“My son actually competes in jiu-jitsu. My daughter, as a three-year-old, has trained wrestling with me,” Tauru says. “I will get them in sports clubs.”

With eight submission wins to his name, the ONE bantamweight looks to add another win to his resume on 21 April against a tough Belingon.

Win or lose, though, Tauru is living the dream. With two children to share his passions with and a supportive fiancée, the man they call “Dynamite” is already a champion to the people that occupy his home.

“I get great energy from my family and relatives. They are crazy sometimes, but I love them still,” he says. “My fiancée Nora is also a great person who always has my back. At the moment, she is working and studying at same time, so my hat’s off to her. And of course, my kids, just for being themselves.”

You’d think a fighter making their debut on Asia’s biggest MMA stage would want to relish every moment of their time in the cage.

Not if your name is Gina “Conviction” Iniong, who wishes nothing more than for it to be over as quickly as possible. In her favor, of course.

The Baguio City, Philippines native makes her ONE debut on 21 April at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY, taking place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. Staring across from the 4-2 fighter will be fellow Filipina Natalie Gonzales Hills.

“Conviction” is looking to make her debut a quick one; one that ends with Hills hitting the canvas. With two of her professional wins coming by submission and another by TKO, Iniong has the resume to back up her desire to end this bout quickly.

“I will try to finish my fight with a first-round knockout or submission,” she says.

In the days leading up to the bout, Iniong is incredibly candid about pre-fight jitters. A capacity crowd in a huge arena and a new promotion are enough to make any fighter nervous. Still, the Team Lakay atomweight knows she has to come in and take care of business.

“There is a lot of pressure, especially because this is my debut in ONE Championship,” the 27-year-old says. “That is normal in every fight.”

The hometown crowd is also serving as motivation. Coming in with six previous trips to the cage, Iniong is looking at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY as an announcement of her arrival in the big leagues.

“I am so excited to fight, especially because this is my (ONE) debut, and I want it to be momentous. Not just for myself, but because I know lot of fans will watch and support me in the Mall of Asia,” says Iniong.

With only a handful of professional fights, Hills is still a relative unknown in the MMA world. Iniong isn’t worried about that. Hills won’t be a totally foreign fighter, thanks to a previous bout with another Team Lakay standout.

“All I know about Natalie (Gonzales Hills) is that she is a striker,” Iniong explains. “I know she will prepare for this fight, especially because she lost to my teammate April Osenio.”

Iniong also has the added benefit of riding the wave to her ONE debut on a winning streak. Her last professional outing in early 2016 ended with a first-round submission win, courtesy of Achilles lock in the first round. And if all that wasn’t enough, Osenio is right there for “Conviction,” assisting with pre-fight preparation.

“She (Osenio) always tells me that I can do it, because ‘she already lost to me,’” says Iniong.

However, complicating things for Iniong is Hills’ desire to hit the reset button on her career after a four-fight losing skid.

Hills has revamped her training and switched camps, moving to train at Jackson Wink MMA in the United States, one of the leading fight camps in the world. All the videos in the world may not prepare Iniong for the new Hills that will walk into the cage on fight night.

Regardless, Iniong is confident she will be triumphant, stating: “All I want is to win.”

Danny Kingad takes to the ONE Championship cage for the third time on 21 April, inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, and when he climbs those last few steps up the stairs and onto the canvas, he’ll be alone. 

However, right up to that point, he will have had his team by his side, and even then they will be just a few meters away. It can feel like a lonely place when the door is bolted shut and your opponent is standing across from you, but it’s a team effort to get to that point.

Baguio City’s famous Team Lakay have several fighters all preparing for the same event, and that means they will have been pushing each other every day, picking each other up, and spurring each other on through the hard rounds in the gym. 

The camaraderie and brotherhood this brings is hard to describe, but it builds a bond that is more than just people sharing a mutual love for martial arts. That’s why Kingad sees Team Lakay as more than just a fight team. 

“They are helping me, and they are my mentors. They mentor me on how to think and how to talk. Many things they teach me help me through life,” he reveals.

At just 21 years old and with a perfect slate of 4-0, Kingad is one of many excellent fighters from the gym, and they’re not just prospects. Topping the card at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY will be defending ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang, one of the most experienced competitors that Kingad can look up to.

Having a team around you that cares for your welfare, as well as your progression in MMA, is a gift that not all fighters have. That’s why Team Lakay’s members feel it is more of a family than a fight team. 

Having come from poverty and losing his father at a young age, there was every chance things could have gone out of control for a young Kingad. Now, thanks to positive role models such as Folayang and head coach Mark Sangiao, he can stay on the right path.

“I have been able to speak to them about all of my problems. They support me because they know that my life was not easy,” Kingad shares.

Keen to reward the time and faith that has been invested in him, the young Filipino is focused on staying unbeaten and continuing his march up the ONE Championship ranks. Back-to-back first-round finishes in his first two bouts with the promotion were enough to show that he has the potential. 

The more you win, the more difficult the matchups become. He’s set to face off against Bali MMA’s Muhammad Aiman in Manila next, a tough but relevant test. He will have prepared to the best of his abilities under the tutelage of the aforementioned Sangiao, so he’ll be confident that victory is within his grasp.

“I think this fight will be exciting and challenging, because it is different,” Kingad explained.

A challenge is not a bad thing. Challenges are what Kingad needs if he wants to continue his ascent and break through to the next echelon of the flyweight division. To do that, he just needs to keep his run of form going, and taking better scalps with each outing.

“I am not rushing to go to the top. I want to first fight more in my division,” he says. “And then, we can go for the championship.”