"I thought of quitting" – Lito Adiwang admits he nearly threw in the towel during grueling recovery process after injury

Filipino star and former Team Lakay standout ‘Thunder Kid’ Lito Adiwang recently revealed that he came very close to throwing in the towel on his career last year while dealing with a nagging ACL injury that threatened his ability to fight.

Adiwang suffered a tremendous setback in 2022, when he met fellow Filipino stalwart Jeremy ‘The Jaguar’ Miado at the historic ONE X. Unfortunately for the 30-year-old, he tweaked his knee in that fight and ended up losing via a heartbreaking second-round technical knockout.

Following surgery and more than 18 months of recovery and rehabilitation, Adiwang finally returned to action in September of 2023. He won in the first-round via TKO against Indonesian banger Adrian Mattheis.

Eventually, he ran it back with Miado months later, beating him by unanimous decision in a close contest.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Adiwang admitted that there were times he thought of just completely giving up.

‘Thunder Kid’ said:

“Of course, there were times when I thought of quitting, thinking if I was still for this sport, especially during the times in my recovery when the pain just kept coming back. It’s tough moving, it was tough even stretching it. That’s when the negative thoughts started coming in and I started questioning if this is still for me.”

Luckily for fans, Adiwang chose to soldier on. He is now back at a hundred percent, with no signs of the lingering ACL injury that kept him sidelined for a lengthy period.

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What’s next for ‘Thunder Kid’ Lito Adiwang?

‘Thunder Kid’ Lito Adiwang is looking for a big fight, having won his last two in impressive fashion. It’s extremely hard to break into a stacked top five at flyweight, but there have been a few cracks in the walls.

Adiwang needs a big name in order to break those walls down, and he’s looking to face the winner of the Hiroba Minowa vs. Gustavo Balart bout at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan later this month.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the news and updates on Lito Adiwang’s next fight.