Lito Adiwang says there’s a ‘big possibility’ that Joshua Pacio regains strawweight crown in the future: “He got all the tools”

At ONE Fight Night 16, Lito Adiwang opened the card with a victory in a high-stakes rematch against a fellow top Filipino warrior.

The last time that he met Jeremy Miado inside the Circle, Adiwang didn’t just suffer a loss, he had a huge part of his career defined by that one fight.

Following some substantial injuries, it took ‘Thunder Kid’ about 18 months to return to competition. When he did, though, he proved that everything he had been telling himself was true.

Aiming to come back and establish his name in the strawweight division, he did just that with a 23-second finish over Adrian Mattheis at ONE Friday Fights 34.

To complete the comeback, there was only one more box left to tick off – to avenge his loss and trap ‘The Jaguar’ within the realm of defeat.

Running it back with Miado this past weekend, Adiwang was able to reverse his fortunes and get his hand raised, walking away with a unanimous decision after three rounds at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Though this victory may have meant a lot to him and his career in ONE Championship, that doesn’t mean that there was ever anything personal between him and ‘The Jaguar’.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post on YouTube, Lito Adiwang showed respect for his opponent by complimenting his skills.

Just like the path he has walked down in his career, he expects Miado to come back stronger from this setback and work his way toward the world championship:

“There's a big, very big possibility. Joshua is evolving and yeah he's doing his part, also training. So I believe if he does the right things, he can win. He has got all the tools.”

Watch the full interview below:

North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 16 via the free event replay.