LITO “Thunder Kid” Adiwang might be coming into his upcoming fight against Keito Yamakita with three straight wins, but he knows he’ll have to be sharp if he wants to keep his winning streak alive.
Adiwang battles the #5-ranked strawweight MMA contender Yamakita at ONE Fight Night 28 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, in February. A win for “Thunder Kid” could get him back in the rankings, but Adiwang knows he won’t beat Yamakita if he shows up the way he did last time.
READ: Lito Adiwang returns to action vs. Keito Yamakita at OFN 28
The Filipino was criticized for his inability to finish Danial Williams in his previous fight, even after pressuring the Thai-Australian striker plenty of times early on.
While he did get the win, a lot of people in the Philippines felt that Adiwang’s brilliance and intensity in the ring had expired.
“Honestly, I agree with their criticism. I felt it. I saw it when I reviewed the fight. If they’re not satisfied, [neither am I],” Adiwang said.
“I know that I could’ve performed a lot better given a lot more, and I felt like it could’ve been so different.”
After coming out guns ablaze in the first round, the 31-year-old started slowing down as time went on and, by the third round, it seemed like Williams was back in the fight.
Adiwang said he ran out of gas, something that perplexed even his coaches after such a fruitful camp.
But Adiwang is confident that they’ve found a solution to this problem.
“Even my coaches were wondering what happened. I was training really well. I think we pinpointed it to weight management, and that’s what I’m looking to really improve on now,” he said.
“I have to make sure that I have enough left in my tank to show the same intensity that I’ve been showing in my training in my fights.”
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