‘ONE: Fire and Fury’ marks Lito Adiwang’s first ONE Championship bout in the Philippines

Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, 26, will compete in the Philippines as a ONE Championship athlete for the first time. Training out of Team Lakay in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines, the Igorot mixed martial artist will fight Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit, 23, of Thailand at “ONE: Fire and Fury” in the strawweight division.

Featuring MMA and Muay Thai contests, ONE Championship will hold “ONE: Fire and Fury” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 31, 2020. It marks Adiwang’s second bout in the Singapore-based martial arts organization.

The bout serves as a special one for many reasons for Adiwang. He has not competed on home soil since 2013.

“This is my first fight in Manila with ONE Championship, so naturally, I am really excited to fight in front of my countrymen,” he said. “Filipino fans are the best in the world, and I cannot wait to bring the heat.”

Currently, Adiwang is riding a six-bout winning streak. From 2018 to 2019, the Igorot MMA fighter defeated Jose “Tick” Huerta, 28, of the United States, Alber “War Machine” Correia, 22, of Brazil and Anthony “The Antidote” Do, 26, of the U.S in ONE Warriors Series.

“I feel confident heading into this match up,” Adiwang said. “I love Pongsiri’s style. He’s an exciting fighter.”

Including Adiwang, five Team Lakay fighters are on the “ONE: Fire and Fury” card. The others are Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, Gina “Conviction” Iniong, 30, Danny “The King” Kingad, 24, and ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, 23.

“It just gives me more motivation and confidence knowing I am up against a good challenge,” Adiwang said. “The fact that my teammates are also on the card with me, it is even more special.”

Born on March 23, 1993, Adiwang has been competing professionally since 2012 and he now holds a professional MMA record of 10 wins and 2 losses. When he made his ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Century 世紀” at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on October 12, 2019, he knocked out Senzo Ikeda, 37, of Japan.