Lito Adiwang eyeing victory over Mansur Malachiev as gateway to strawweight MMA top 5

Filipino strawweight MMA fighter Lito Adiwang seeks to barge into the top five rankings in his division with a victory in his next fight, preferably against Russian Mansur Malachiev.

The ‘Thunder Kid’ is back on track in his ONE Championship campaign after missing a year and half of competition because of injury. He has won back-to-back matches since returning back in September, 2023 and is hungry for more success.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Adiwang, 30, said he wants to face the winner between Japanese Hiroba Minowa and Cuban Gustavo Balart from their showdown at ONE 166 later this month in Japan. If not, he wants to battle Malachiev, who is the fifth-ranked fighter in strawweight.

The HIIT Studio affiliate said:

“If it’s not [the winner of Balart or Minowa] I want to face Mansur. I think he’s a good match-up. We’re supposed to meet before, and now’s the perfect time to pick up on it. He’s also a ranked fighter so it’s a perfect opportunity for me cause I want to get back to the rankings. I target that belt, so Mansur is the perfect challenge for me.”

Lito Adiwang was initially penciled in to battle Mansur Malachiev for his return fight in early 2023 before he re-aggravated his injury, resulting in the fight being dropped.

He instead made his return in September, marking it with a 39-second TKO victory over Indonesian Adrian Mattheis, and then following it up with a unanimous decision victory in an all-Filipino rematch with Jeremy Miado in November.

Malachiev, meanwhile, debuted in June, beating Miado by submission (D’Arce choke) in the opening round. He, however, fell in his second fight to former strawweight king Joshua Pacio by unanimous decision in October.

---

Lito Adiwang still dreaming of becoming ONE world champion

While his ONE Championship journey had to take an unexpected detour because of injury, Lito Adiwang said his dream of becoming a world champion is still alive and he is determined to make it a reality.

He shared this in an interview with ONE Sports’ The Game back in October, highlighting that despite still being a work in progress, his goal of being champion remains alive.

Adiwang said:

“I really want to be a champion here in ONE Championship. I really believe in myself, and there’s still a lot I’ve yet to achieve, still a lot of ground to make up. But I always visualized that I would become a world champion in the future. So that’s my motivation right now, these are all just obstacles on my way and these things will just make my story and my career even better.”

A product of the ONE Warriors Series, Lito Adiwang had a solid start in ONE, winning two of his first three matches. He injured his knee while in action in March 2022 but has won back-to-back matches since returning from his injury in September, 2023.