Lito Adiwang admits ACL tear took a toll on his mental health: “This experience was a lot more psychological”

Lito Adiwang revealed that his recovery process from his nasty injury did more to his mental health than his physical one.

The strawweight MMA contender tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during his match against Jeremy Miado at ONE X in March 2022.

Although he’s since returned from injury after 18 months, Adiwang revealed that he was at his wit’s end during his recovery process.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Adiwang revealed the injury took a toll on his mental health.

He also recalled in past interviews that even the basic motions of sitting down and tying his shoelaces became unbearable for him.

Adiwang said:

“I can admit that this experience was a lot more psychological than anything else. Physically, I could overcome it relatively easily, though this one was really more focused on the mental aspect of it all for the past 18 months.”

Adiwang made his return to action in September when he knocked out Indonesian brawler Adrian Mattheis at ONE Friday Fights 34 at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

The Filipino star couldn’t have asked for a better return than the one he got, too. Adiwang needed just 23 seconds to send Mattheis to the shadow realm with his trademark relentless striking.

‘Thunder Kid’ also made a quick turnaround between his matches, and he’s now scheduled to face Miado in a rematch in the very arena where he made his return from injury.

Adiwang will take on Miado at ONE Fight Night 16 on November 3 in what both fighters see as the continuation of their initial meeting from a year ago.

ONE Fight Night 16 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.