“I hope we get to see that fight real soon” – Lito Adiwang says Joshua Pacio-Jarred Brooks trilogy must happen ASAP
Filipino fighter Lito Adiwang is one eager spectator to catch the expected trilogy fight between ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio and American rival Jarred Brooks.
'Thunder Kid' said that considering how the last fight between the two top strawweight fighters went down, fight fans want them to reengage and settle the score, once and for all.
Pacio and Brooks met for the strawweight MMA world title on March 1 at ONE 166: Qatar. The contest, however, ended abruptly after then divisional king Brooks was disqualified for the accidental illegal spike he committed in the opening round that saw 'The Passion' hit his head first in the canvas.
As a result, 'The Monkey God' automatically lost the world title to Pacio.
The two have since cleared the air on the unfortunate incident and agreed that a trilogy fight should take place once Pacio is cleared to fight once again.
In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Lito Adiwand shared that a definitive ending is needed for the title showdown between Pacio and Brooks, saying:
"I believe myself and all the MMA fans want to see the trilogy happen ASAP. And as long as Joshua's medical is cleared, I hope we get to see that fight again real soon."
The full replay of ONE 166: Qatar is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
Lito Adiwang wants to keep himself busy competing this year
Knee injury kept Lito Adiwang out of competition for over a year but he has since made up for lost ground by winning his first three fights since returning to action. It is something he looks to sustain by keeping himself busy competing this year.
'Thunder Kid' returned to competition back in September after 18 months since going down with a knee injury during his showdown with fellow Filipino fighter Jeremy Miado in March 2022.
He marked his return with a scintillating 23-second TKO of Indonesian fighter Adrian Mattheis. He followed it up with a unanimous decision victory over Miado in their rematch in November.
Lito Adiwang was last in action in February, chalking up another unanimous decision victory over Australian slugger Danial Williams.
For this year, he wants to continue being active and further improve his standing in the stacked strawweight MMA division.
The 31-year-old Soma Fight Club affiliate shared to The MMA Superfan in an interview:
"My target is to fight every two months this year. I mean if it's possible, I would love to fight that often. Every two ot three months, that's the goal."
Watch the interview below:
Lito Adiwang used to be part of Team Lakay in the Philippines but decided to leave last year to further expand his horizon as a fighter and is now Bali-based with Soma Fight Club.