Lito Adiwang expects Akbar Abdullaev, Halil Amir to recreate the excitement of Max Holloway’s KO over Justin Gaethje
There's always something magical waiting to happen when two knockout artists collide, and Lito Adiwang expects nothing but pure spectacle when Halil Amir and Akbar Abdullaev collide in Bangkok.
Abdullaev and Amir will face off in a pivotal featherweight MMA match at ONE Fight Night 22 this Friday, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Adiwang said the potential barnburner between Amir and Abdullaev has the possibility to recreate the same magic Max Holloway did against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
"That should've been my example. It's like that, I hope it turns out like that. It's gonna be an exciting fight," said Lito Adiwang.
Holloway pulled off one of the best last-second knockouts when he laid out Gaethje with a perfect overhand right in their match this April.
Adiwang, though, expressed that the fight between Abdullaev and Amir won't reach the final second of the match.
The pair of knockout monsters have a penchant for ending fights as early as possible, and they would sometimes stop at nothing just to get that highlight reel finish.
Abdullaev and Amir have identical 10-0 professional records and four knockouts between them in ONE Championship.
Amir has a second-round finish against Timofey Nastyukhin and a first-round KO against Ahmed Mujtaba during his perfect 3-0 run in the promotion.
Abdullaev, meanwhile, spent a total of one minute and 25 seconds in his knockout wins against Oh Ho Taek and Aaron Canarte.
ONE Fight Night 22 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Lito Adiwang wants Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir to go for broke at ONE Fight Night 22
Lito Adiwang will always be a fight fan first and a fighter second.
As such, he wants Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir to blow the roof off Lumpinee Boxing Stadium this Friday.
The Filipino star, who has five knockouts under ONE Championship, said in the same interview that Abdullaev and Amir should swing for the fences and never let the judges even write on their scorecards.
"I hope that both of them will trade blows, they're both knockout artists, so they should prove that they're knockout artists. Let them bang," said Adiwang.