At ONE Fight Night 16 last Friday, Filipino MMA star Lito Adiwang finally got the redemption he's been hunting for over a year. Against fellow Filipino ONE strawweight MMA star Jeremy 'The Jaguar' Miado, 'Thunder Kid' pulled off a much-deserved unanimous decision win after a nail-biting three-round brawl.
The bout was a rematch of their fight at ONE X last year, where Lito Adiwang lost the bout due to a freak knee injury. After going through surgery and recovering for over a year, Adiwang made a blazing return to action at ONE Friday Fights 34 last September.
'Thunder Kid' KO'd Indonesian bad boy Adrien Matheis in just 23 seconds. Though it was a satisfying win, it wasn't the one that Adiwang was ultimately looking for. Barely over a month later, the Filipino rising star finally got to face and defeat his rival and fellow countryman, Miado.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
In an interview with MMA Superfan on YouTube, Adiwang spoke about what winning the rematch meant to him:
"To my followers and fans thank you. We all won. I think I can say this completes my comeback now. I had a great return fight [against Adrian Mattheis], where I won in just 23 seconds. I definitely needed some closure, especially since my injury happened in that first match with Miado. I think I showed that [I’m the better fighter]."
Watch the full interview here:
Lito Adiwang has always been a well-spoken athlete and his assessment of the bout and what it meant to him was quite eloquent. In the bout, Adiwang rocked Miado early and knocked him down with his signature leaping left hook.
After swarming 'The Jaguar' with the hopes of putting him away, Lito Adiwang eventually calmed down and went back to methodically dismantling his opponent. Miado was resilient as ever as he was connecting with a lot of straight shots despite getting walloped by Adiwang's power punches.
In the end, 'Thunder Kid' did enough with his power and striking accuracy to earn the unanimous nod of the judges. ONE Fight Night 16 is available to watch back in its entirety for free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription.