"He's a grinder” - Lito Adiwang anticipating Keito Yamakita’s punishing style of fighting at ONE Fight Night 28

Lito Adiwang is "truly preparing" for his upcoming fight against Keito Yamakita.

On February 7, Adiwang will make his first ONE Championship appearance of the new year at ONE Fight Night 28. The Filipino superstar has been matched up against fellow surging strawweight MMA contender Yamakita.

Heading into his fourteen promotional fight, Adiwang recently did an interview with ABS-CBN. 'Thunder Kid' had this to say about Yamakita:

"He's a grinder, that's why I'm truly preparing for this fight."

Keito Yamakita's lone promotional defeat was against Bokang Masunyane in January 2024. Since then, the Japanese strawweight has bounced back with wins against Jeremy Miado (first-round submission) and Yosuke Saruta (split decision).

Yamakita plans to showcase why he deserves a spot in the ONE strawweight MMA title picture by taking out Lito Adiwang.

ONE Fight Night 28 goes down inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The February 7 event can be seen live and for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

In the main event, two-sport world champion Prajanchai will defend his strawweight Muay Thai throne against Ellis Badr Barboza.

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Where does Lito Adiwang stand in ONE strawweight MMA division?

In March 2022, Lito Adiwang suffered a significant setback when he suffered a torn ACL while fighting Jeremy Miado, leading to a second-round TKO loss.

Adiwang had to overcome a lengthy recovery process before returning in September 2023. The Filipino superstar started with a 23-second knockout win against Adrian Mattheis before avenging his loss against Miado two months later.

'Thunder Kid' only fought once in 2024, a unanimous decision win against Danial Williams in February. Despite not being ranked, Adiwang is arguably a few wins away from a title shot against Jarred Brooks or Joshua Pacio.

Keito Yamakita is the number five-ranked strawweight. Therefore, Adiwang could crack the division's rankings with a win at ONE Fight Night 28.

On February 20, Pacio and Brooks will compete in a trilogy bout to unify the strawweight MMA throne. With a win against Yamakita, Adiwang could potentially fight the winner or need to take out one more contender for a late-2025 title shot.