MANILA – Filipino mixed martial arts prospect Lito Adiwang said he is not worried that he will be facing a new opponent at ONE: Unbreakable.
ONE Championship announced on Monday that Adiwang will now take on Japanese pugilist Namiki Kawahara.
"Sa akin, hindi naman big effect for me lalo na na-check natin 'yung strength niya (It does not have a big effect on me especially that we already checked his strength)," Adiwang said.
Adiwang's coach, Team Lakay pillar Mark Sangiao, bared that the camp of Hexigetu, Adiwang's original opponent, encountered some problems that prompted him to pull off the fight, leading to Kawahara, who is making his ONE debut, accepting the fight on a nine-day notice.
However, Sangiao said that upon learning about the development, Adiwang quickly said yes to it.
"Pagkasabi ko kay Lito, nag-agree naman siya after two hours. Pinadala ko lahat ng nakita kong videos. After niya napanood lahat nag-go naman siya (When I told it to Lito, he agreed after two hours. I sent all the videos that I saw. After watching them, he gave his go signal)," Sangiao said.
Adiwang added, "Na-excite ako. May konting excitement na parang 'okey, magandang laban ito.' Alam naman natin kasi toughness and mindset ng mga athletes ng Japan. Hindi sila naggi-give up. So magiging magandang laban to (I got excited. There was some excitement that was like, 'okay, this is going to be a good fight.’ We all know the toughness and mindset of athletes from Japan. They do not give up. So this will be a good fight)."
Kawahara actually has a championship pedigree, having won the Deep strawweight title on Aug. 23, 2020 against Haruo Ochi at Deep 96 in Tokyo.
Kawahara holds a record of seven wins, four by knockout and two by submission, three losses, and two draws with one no contest.
"'Yung nakikita kong strength niya sa bagong kalaban natin, sa skills more on a striker, so magaling siyang striker. Sa ground, tignan natin kung nag-improve 'yung ano niya (We observed that my new opponent is more of a striker based on skills, so he is a good striker. We will find out if his ground game improved)," Adiwang said.
However, Adiwang's camp believes Kawahara still has a lot to work on if he wants to pull off a stunner in his ONE debut.
"Nakikita ko may advantage pa rin tayo dito. Alam naman natin si Lito very powerful and explosive. May mga butas kaming nakita doon. May weakness part na nakita kami sa opponent niya so pwede natin dalhin doon ang laro (I notice that we still have an advantage. We all know Lito is very powerful and explosive. We saw some flaws to his game. We saw a weakness in his opponent, so we can bring the fight there)," Sangiao said.
Adiwang will square off with Kawahara in the curtain raiser of ONE: Unbreakable on Friday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. (PNA)
