By:  | October 30, 2023 10:35 am

There will always be an asterisk besides Jeremy Miado’s win over Lito Adiwang in the minds of most. Midway through the fight the latter suffered a serious knee injury and was unable to continue.

Midi rematches Adiwang at ONE Fight Night 16 this Saturday. The first fight might not have ended exactly the way he wanted but the Filipino can take a lot of positives from his performance as well as the victory,

“In the first fight, I was really timing that opening each time he came in. That’s one thing that I’m working on, finding those openings and connecting on those shots.”

Ready for anything

Having shared the cage with Adiwang for about two and a half rounds Miado knows exactly what to expect. The rematch will be in a ring but he promises to be ‘ready’ for whatever his compatriot has in store,

“I’m ready for him wherever the fight goes. If he wants to strike against me then I’ll be ready. If he wants to take it to the ground, then I’ll have answers for him, too.”

Some fans have suggested that Miado should not have celebrated when Adiwang got injured. He is aware of the criticism but prefers to focus on his own goals and how a victory this weekend would take him one step closer to achieving them,

“There are a lot of people saying that I only won because Lito got injured. I really don’t have a problem with it, that’s their opinion. But as for me, I just want to win, get a ranked opponent, move into the top five, and become a title challenger.”

Biggest weapons

Miado stands at 5’7″ making him taller than the average strawweight. He will certainly have a height advantage against Adiwang and it sounds like the 30 year old plans to make the most of it,

“Of course, my counters and my reach are some of my best weapons. We will also adjust accordingly as the fight goes on. I really don’t know what Lito’s game plan will be but I assure you that I’ll be adjusting to whatever Lito wants to do.”

It sounds as if he is expecting Adiwang to come out with a slightly different approach. His opponent is coming off a very fast finish at ONE Friday Fights 34 but Miado thinks that his superior range and grappling will make the difference,

“As I’ve said, my range will be my biggest weapon in this fight, and I can say that I hold an edge over him in the grappling department. I believe those are my advantages.” The only advantage that he has over me is his power, the power in his hands and his kicks.”

He saw a run of four straight stoppage wins snapped by a submission loss to Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 11. The Russian earned a spot in the top five and shot at former champion Joshua Pacio with that win.

The top five is where Miado desperately wants to be. The Filipino’s recent form has taken him within touching distance and he feels a win this weekend would be enough to earn him a spot in the strawweight rankings,

“I just really want to be in the top five. This is the perfect chance for me to prove that I deserve to be in the mix of contenders.”