IT SEEMS the Danny Kingad and Kairat Akhmetov dream match-up will have to wait a little longer.

This came after ONE Championship announced the bout has been postponed after a Team Lakay cornerman tested positive for Covid-19.

No further details were released by ONE as of this writing but said the Kingad-Akhmetov match, which will take place in the fight card of ONE: Big Bang on December 4 in Singapore, will be replaced by a pivotal battle in the strawweight mixed martial arts division, as undefeated South African juggernaut Bokang Masunyane will clash with #3-ranked contender Rene Catalan.

Masunyane, who's based in Johannesburg, began his mixed martial arts career with six consecutive victories.

Catalan, the 41-year-old Wushu World Champion, who's based in Manila won six consecutive matchups and became the only person to finish former ONE Strawweight World Champion and current #2-ranked contender Yoshitaka Naito in March 2019.

That led to a ONE Strawweight World Title shot, but Catalan ultimately fell to the division's reigning king, Joshua Pacio.

Catalan, however, remains energized and focused on another run to the top.

"My goal is to come up and take the top ranking in the division, so expect me to fight strong," Catalan said. "I am hungry and I will fight like it so I can reach my goal of being number one again and challenging the champion once more."

Despite his frustrating loss to Pacio in November 2019, the pride of Santa Barbara, Iloilo, is taking the setback in his stride, confident that he still has a long way to go in his mixed martial arts career.

Meanwhile, Masunyane has his own dreams of becoming a ONE World Champion.

The 26-year-old South African is undefeated in mixed martial arts and was brilliant in his promotional debut, scoring a unanimous decision win over Ryuto "Dragon Boy" Sawada that showcased his world-class wrestling, explosiveness, and high-octane motor.

After watching that performance, Catalan expects nothing less from the emerging star.

"We saw that his wrestling skill is really, really high," the Filipino said.