Not even three kicks to the groin could stop Lito Adiwang as the “Thunder Kid” ekes out a unanimous decision victory over Hexigetu “Wolf of the Grasslands” in their strawweight bout during ONE: REVOLUTION held on September 24, 2021 at Singapore.
While his opponent pulled off a “Guillermo Rigondeaux” by running around just not to get hit, Adiwang made most of the night for the fans by initiating the attack in the midst of Hexigetu’s reluctance to engage.
The Team Lakay fireball clearly controlled the tempo of the bout from the opening bell, constantly pressuring his Chinese opponent who surprisingly elected to engage in a stand-up battle rather than take the fight on the mat, his strong suit.
With Hexigetu refusing to mix it up on their feet and very passive to go for take downs, Adiwang utilized his striking prowess to the hilt.
He did not give any room for the China Top Team athlete to operate and connected a variety of kicks, including a highlight flying right kick that caught Hexigetu off guard.
In the end, while Hexigetu managed to absorb the shots Adiwang dished off, even goading the “Thunder Kid” to hit him more, his gameplan was not only suited for an entertaining fight, it was also a recipe for a loss.
Adiwang clearly had the match in the bag by lopsided fashion as he did majority of the hitting during the entire with most of his kicks landing in the midsection and the feet and make the fight watchable for the fans.
Both fighters started the round sizing up each other and wary to fall into the opponents hitting range until the referee warned them to get into it.
Adiwang sprung to action first and ended the round head hunting by connecting a variety of kicks, including the flying kick and a jumping knee.
Sensing Adiwang’s power, Hexigetu became even more elusive by backpedalling to start the second round. The Team Lakay superstar countered by chopping his opponent’s lead leg with heavy inside leg kicks.
Hexigetu, however, remained passive despite the fight being taken to him. He had been warned multiple times to mix it up as he had shown little to nothing to offer up to this point.
For what it is worth, Hexigetu did land two groin strikes owards the end of the second round, earning him a yellow card with 22 seconds left.
Adiwang got things off to another cracking start in the third and final round, uncorking a three-two combination that found the mark.
After Hexigetu incurred another yellow card for his third groin strike, Adiwang continued to damage his foe with his versatile striking arsenal, flying in with head kicks and more combinations that forced the Chinese athlete to the edge of the Circle.
Adiwang even got a bit of a payback when one of his kicks unfortunately hit the Chinese’s groin in the final minute of the match.
Adiwang improved his card to 13-3-0 while dropping Hexigetu’s to 9-5.
Adiwang is now on a two-bout winning streak after beating Namiki Kawahara by a sensational second round technical knockout win in ONE: Unbreakable last January.
Meanwhile, Roel Rosauro failed to extend his winning streak as he fell victim to a James Yang ground and pound which forced the referee to stop their bout at the 2:00 minute mark of Round 2.
The Filipino was doing fine until Yang brought the fight to the ground where he clearly got the upperhand.
Rosauro defended and successfully warded off a rear-naked choke but had to give up his back paving way for Yang to dish wide open shots to the head.
Rosauro’s inability to defend himself forced the referee to put a halt to the bout.
By Armando M. Bolislis
