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Friday, March 29, 2024

Adiwang on challenging Teammate Pacio: If it’s his time, it’s his time

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Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang proved again why he’s a major player in the ONE Championship strawweight division despite being out of the weight class’ top five rankings.  

In his last outing, Adiwang didn’t get the finish he wanted, but he dominated nonetheless, scoring a breezy unanimous decision win over “Wolf Of The Grasslands” Hexigetu at ONE: REVOLUTION on Friday,  September 24. 

The 28-year-old controlled most of the fight, only soaking up damage from inadvertent low blows that Adiwang seemingly felt more than any other strikes he received. 

With another impressive win, talks of a potential showdown with his teammate and ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio resurfaced, and Adiwang had  this to say:

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“I respect Joshua, and I look at him as my younger brother. If it’s his time, it’s his time,” Adiwang said. 

Instead of gunning for his teammate, Adiwang plans to act as Pacio’s gatekeeper, taking out one challenger after the next to make sure that only the deserving few get to challenge his friend. 

“I’m trying to screen out who is the next tough challenger. We will get to see how good that fighter is if he gets to fight me.”

One of the guys eyeing Pacio is #4-ranked Hiroba Minowa, the only person to beat Adiwang in ONE. 

The match could’ve gone either way and caused some controversy, as Adiwang’s camp believes Minowa tapped early in the match, a claim Minowa and his team denied. 

Adiwang has long asked for a rematch, and with two impressive wins since that loss, he believes he’s ready for his Japanese foe once more. 

In fact, the only reason he wants to climb the rankings now and become the number one contender is for him to have the power to challenge anyone.

“If you remember, Minowa is a tough fighter. But when we fought, I believe that I gave him the chance to make his name,” Adiwang said. 

“It looks like I’m chasing for a rematch, but I don’t want that. I believe deep inside that if I have a good mindset, I could beat him.

“Now I want to beat the number one contender so I can get the rematch. I will make a way to get that rematch. I know deep inside that he is trying to avoid me.”

ONE Championship returns to live action with ONE: FIRST STRIKE on October 15. Download the ONE Super App for more details on the event.   

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