(GMA News) Flyweight MMA star Danny Kingad of Baguio City’s Team Lakay wasted no time and went straight back to school just a few days after his huge win over Chinese prospect Ma Hao Bin in the undercard of ‘ONE: Pinnacle of Power’ last Saturday in Macau.

Kingad, who holds a mixed martial arts record of 7-1, showcased both his striking and wrestling skills to overcome a tough opponent in Ma.

The win this past weekend gave him a sprained elbow, but it didn’t stop him from going back to his studies at the University of Cordilleras where he is a third year BS Education student.

“When I got to school, people were looking and congratulating me,” Kingad told GMA News Online.

“Some teachers said they preferred not to watch because it hurts them. What they did instead was search the result on social media and were very happy to learn I won the fight.”

For decades, Fighters have had this stigma of not getting education because of poverty and the time they devote to training.

Team Lakay, in that sense, is what sets its athletes apart from many others. Newly crowned undisputed ONE flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio, for example, has a master’s degree in education.

Kingad is following his teammates’ footsteps, and nothing will stop him from earning a college degree despite the all the prize money he’s making as a professional fighter. “Education is very important to me because I want to have a degree even as an athlete who makes money from fighting,” said Kingad. “I want to finish college and have something to fallback on when it’s time to call it a day as an athlete.”