“I'm in for a serious ride” – Danial Williams studied Lito Adiwang’s life both inside and outside competition

Danial Williams is an astute student of martial arts. As such, ‘Mini T’ shows utmost respect to his opponents by putting in the time to study them on and off the Circle.

The Australian-Thai finisher certainly did his homework on his ONE Fight Night 19 adversary Lito Adiwang. This three-round strawweight MMA barnburner will go down inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand this Friday, February 16.

While the versatile Danial Williams competed in kickboxing ranks last year, he kept a close eye on the ONE strawweight MMA division, where he holds a 3-1 slate.

In an interview with the world’s largest martial arts organization, the 30-year-old Perth native revealed he followed Adiwang’s inspiring story and was in awe of his comeback.

“I think just respecting my opponent, man, just knowing that I'm in for a serious ride. I've followed Lito’s story. He's fought the who's who and had a few losses, and then he's bounced back and he's on an absolute roll.”

After recuperating from an 18-month lay-off due to ACL surgery, Adiwang returned with a bang last year and won two straight bouts against Adrian Mattheis and Jeremy Miado.

Now back better than ever, ‘Thunder Kid’ has been an absolute madman in training in hopes of continuing his streak at the expense of Williams.

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Danial Williams admires Lito Adiwang’s commitment to improving his craft

While Danial Williams is impressed by Lito Adiwang’s natural gifts in combat, he’s also aware of the Filipino’s sacrifices to further hone his craft.

‘Thunder Kid’ uprooted his life and moved to Bali, Indonesia to train at SOMA Fight Club.

Knowing how hard his opponent works, Williams said he used it as motivation to also put everything he had in training camp. ‘Mini T’ added:

“Now he's moved country for his whole life, so understanding, OK. I'm fighting a guy that's going to give it his all. Like, he will die in there. So, that keeps me focused.”

ONE Fight Night 19 will air live on US Primetime on February 16, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America