Under the banner of ONE Championship in 2023, Lito Adiwang was responsible for producing one of the highlight storylines of the year in mixed martial arts (MMA).
After suffering an injury when competing against Jeremy Miado at ONE X in March of 2022, “Thunder Kid” was unable to compete and placed on the sidelines. For a period of time, it appeared as though his return might be postponed indefinitely.
At ONE Friday Fights 34, which took place in September, Adiwang did not only return; rather, he returned with a desire to exact revenge. Before making a speedy turnaround to fight at ONE Fight Night 16 in November, he stopped Adrian Mattheis in just twenty-three seconds to mark his reintroduction to the division.
After achieving his goal of vengeance against Miado by defeating him in the rematch, Adiwang took some time to reflect on the preceding year of his career in an interview that he recently gave to the promotion:
I had a comeback, and it was more than a comeback; it was a fantastic one. I wanted a comeback. So I am thankful that I was able to fulfill my obligations. I came back and finished a quick bout, and I had a rapid turnaround to earn another win and establish that I’m back in the game. It just wasn’t a single fight though.
Additionally, Lito Adiwang extended his discussion on the significance of avenging his loss to Miado by saying:
I couldn’t have asked for a better year than 2023 due to the fact that I was able to finally cross Jeremy Miado off my list and demonstrate that I was capable of defeating him even without the injury.
Lito Adiwang will be set for even bigger and better things in 2024
After finally making his comeback in 2023, Lito Adiwang is able to return with two victories that are rather outstanding, which makes it difficult for him to have too many regrets about the year 2023.
Not only is he overjoyed to be back competing once more, but he also has a significant amount of momentum behind him, which is the most thrilling aspect of his homecoming for the Filipino competitor.
It is now time for ‘Thunder Kid’ to build upon his back-to-back victories, as the first stage of the comeback has now been completed. This comes after he returned to the ring and attempted to exact revenge for his defeat at the hands of Miado.
If Adiwang is able to string together another win or two, he may be able to compete for a title in the future. Additionally, he may be able to compete in some significant fights in the near future.
