“Let them bang” - Filipino striker Lito Adiwang wants Akbar Abdullaev, Halil Amir to go for broke in crucial featherweight meeting

Akbar Abdullaev (left), Halil Amir (right), and Lito Adiwang (circle inset).
Akbar Abdullaev (left), Halil Amir (right), and Lito Adiwang (circle inset).

There's no better spectacle in combat sports than two knockout artists wanting to decapitate each other, and Lito Adiwang is expecting exactly that at ONE Fight Night 22.

Renowned super strikers Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir will put their perfect records on the line in their featherweight MMA match on May 3 at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Abdullaev and Amir hold identical 10-0 professional records and are a combined 5-0 in ONE Championship.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Lito Adiwang said he wants Abdullaev and Amir to throw everything at one another and not leave the fight in the hands of the judges.

"I hope that both of them will trade blows, they're both knockout artists, so they should prove that they're knockout artists. Let them bang," said the Filipino star.

Abdullaev is a perfect 2-0 in ONE Championship with an absurd combined fight time of one minute and 25 seconds.

He needed just 44 seconds to score a first-round knockout win over Oh Ho Taek in his promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 8. Abdullaev then followed it up with another sub-minute KO against Aaron Canarte.

Amir, meanwhile, will drop down from lightweight when he faces Abdullaev in Bangkok.

'No Mercy' is 3-0 in ONE Championship and has two knockout wins against Timofey Nastyukhin and Ahmed Mujtaba.

ONE Fight Night 22 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.


Lito Adiwang expects fireworks from Smilla Sundell against Natalia Diachkova

The firefight between Abdullaev and Amir isn't the only matchup Lito Adiwang is looking forward to witnessing at ONE Fight Night 22.

The card's main event will feature teenage phenom Smilla Sundell defending her ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title against Natalia Diachkova.

While Adiwang praised Diachkova's stopping power, he feels the Russian star doesn't have what it takes to take the gold away from Sundell.

"Honestly, if she's fighting another fighter then she can [knock her out]. But this is Smilla we're talking about. Champ is at a different level. With the height and the way she fights, I don't see Natalia knocking Smilla out," said Adiwang in the same interview.

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