Lito Adiwang set to return against Mansur Malachiev at ONE on Prime Video 6 in Bangkok

Team Lakay standout Lito Adiwang is ready to make his long-awaited return to the circle on January 13, 2023.

ONE Championship will head to Impact Arena in Bangkok for ONE on Prime Video 6. ONE’s first event of 2023 will be headlined by a highly-anticipated featherweight kickboxing world title fight between reigning champion Superbon Singha Mawynn and No.1-ranked contender Chingiz Allazov.

Adiwang has dropped his last two bouts against newly crowned strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks and Jeremy Miado. Overall, ‘Thunder Kid’ is 7-3 inside the circle, with his most recent wins coming against Namiki Kawahara and Hexigetu.

Meeting the Team Laykay team member inside the circle will be ONE Championship debutant Mansur Malachiev. Primarily competing on the regional circuit in Russia, his last three victories came under Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion, where he captured the flyweight championship. Undefeated in his professional career with 10 straight victories, Malachiev has a 70% finish rate with five submission victories and three by way of knockout, showing that he is dangerous no matter where the fight goes.

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Lito Adiwang bounces back from ACL tear in his last appearance

Lito Adiwang’s last appearance inside the circle ended in devastation as he suffered an ACL tear in his ONE X bout with Jeremy Miado. Ten months later, Adiwang will make his return to action at ONE on Prime Video 6 on January 13, 2023.

In an interview with ONE Championship, ‘Thunder Kid’ spoke about the struggles, both mental and physical, that he had to overcome following the injury:

“Actually, I did have some mental fear in the first few weeks. It’s hard to overcome this type of injury, especially on the mental side of things. I have never experienced anything like this before. Simple things like sitting down and standing up, tying my shoelaces, were a struggle.”

Adiwang continued:

“But when the doctor told me that they completely fixed my knee and that it’s now stronger than it was before, it gave me more confidence, and I was able to overcome the fear inside of me.”

Lito Adiwang will put his newly repaired ACL to work this January, but it won’t be a walk in the park as he meets an undefeated Russian grappler with legitimate knockout power. ONE on Prime Video 6 is live and free for all Prime Video subscribers in North America.