By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Thunder Kid is back.
After a year of hiatus in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), one of the most explosive fighters carrying the PHL flag banner will be making a highly-anticipated comeback in the ONE Fighting Championship scene.
Welcome back, Lito Adiwang!
Adiwang will be looking to extend his international winning streak to four straight victories but will have to brace for a tough challenge against no. 5-ranked strawweight pug Keito Yamakita from Japan.
Just like Adiwang, Yamakita is currently on a winning streak, picking up back-to-back wins against Filipino MMA fighter Jeremy Miado and Yosuke Saruta in the past 10 months.
The upcoming matchup will be staged on February 8, 2025, in an undercard fight schedule at ONE Fight Night 28 to be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
“To my fans and supporters, Happy New Year! And I promise to make it even happier by announcing my return in the ring this February 8,” Adiwang said.
As early as December 2024, Adiwang already kicked off his training camp and flew to Bali, Indonesia, to train with one of the most prominent stables in Asia, Soma MMA.
Since departing his long-time squad Team Lakay, Adiwang didn’t have a permanent stable to train, but gaining knowledge from the best trainers in Indonesia was the best plan for their camp.
During his three-fight dub streak, Adiwang displayed a better ground game, the thing he lacked when he first stepped into the ONE FC octagon several years ago.
Adiwang is a well-known power puncher and a one-punch knockout artist, but his past opponents saw his weakness on the ground and dragged him into a sprawl battle, rather than engaging him in the stand-up exchanges.
Against Daniel Williams in his latest win, Adiwang controlled both the ground and the stand-up phases, dominating his Australian foe during the undercard of the kickboxing main event between Jonathan Haggerty and Felipe Lobo.
The Filipino’s camp is yet to reveal their strategy against Yamakita, but most likely they will look to maintain their desired hitting distance as the Japanese possess a quick takedown game that can turn the tides of the match in a blink of an eye.
“My new year has been silent because I am saving all the fireworks for fight day, so don’t miss it,” Adiwang added.
