Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang has nothing but respect for his compatriot and fellow strawweight star Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado, but don’t expect him to pull punches when they meet inside the Circle.
The two heavy hitters will face off in the first part of ONE X – the promotion’s tenth-anniversary show – on Saturday, March 26, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Adiwang bared that if he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to duke it out with a fellow Filipino. However, he understands that they are both professionals, and in this sport, sometimes friendship and fondness will have to be put aside.
“There’s some hesitation because you’re fighting someone from the same country, that’s why you can’t go all out in the match. But we need to be professional here and show that we’re in the big league,” Adiwang said.
“So, we have to forget for a while that we are fellow Filipinos. We are friends outside the Circle, we are compatriots, but let’s respect the game and show how professional we are. We have to give everything, no excuses. No one should hold back during the fight.”
Having followed Miado’s rise in the strawweight division, Adiwang knows that this match will be far from a walk in the park.
The Marrok Force standout is coming off back-to-back finishes and wants nothing more than to claim his biggest win yet against the Team Lakay star.
“His good boxing base is his strength, and he uses his height to his advantage by maximizing his reach,” Adiwang said.
But while he respects his compatriot’s striking,”Thunder Kid” believes there are a lot of things he can exploit from Miado’s game as well.
For one, Adiwang believes that Miado’s striking was highlighted by the fact that he’s recently faced wrestlers but never a true striker like himself.
“I believe his ground game and his striking power still need work. It benefitted him that he went against wrestlers because the delivery of his strikes looked good,” Adiwang said.
“Once he faces another striker, his punches might not look good anymore, especially when [he’s] also getting hit.”
While he was wary of facing a fellow Filipino at first, Adiwang now sees the bigger picture, as an excellent performance from both will highlight the progress that Filipino MMA athletes have made.
“[Jeremy], I really respect you. Good luck to us, and I believe we’re on this card because it’s one of the biggest cards of ONE Championship. Let’s show the world what we’ve got,” Adiwang said.
See the full card for the historic ONE X here and watch it live on the following channels: bit.ly/WatchONE | ONE Super App | ONE YouTube