Danial Williams will return to MMA for his next fight, Fight News Australia can reveal.
“Mini T” is set to face Filipino knockout artist Lito Adiwang in a strawweight battle at ONE Fight Night 19: Haggerty vs. Lobo at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 17.
The Perth native is trying his hand at MMA once again, after falling short in a pair of kickboxing world title last year.
Williams suffered a crushing knockout at the hands of ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 in March, after stepping up a weight class on short notice in place of the injured Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
He then returned to his native weight, where he challenged strawweight kickboxing king Jonathan Di Bella at ONE Fight Night 15 in October. The 30-year-old was gallant against the razor-sharp Canadian but ultimately, he came up short on the scorecards.
Williams is 6-2 in mixed martial arts and will be desperate to get back into the win column after he saw a three-fight win streak snapped in his last appearance in the sport, a TKO loss to another Filipino in Jeremy Miado back in October 2022.
But in order to steady the ship, he’ll have to put himself in harm’s way against the in-form “Thunder Kid”.
Adiwang has won two straight since a loss to Miado of his own, the latest of which was a successful unanimous decision win in a rematch against “The Jaguar”.
The 30-year-old has been a ONE Championship staple since 2018, during which time he has reeled off nine wins and faced some of the toughest strawweights on the roster.
The winner of Williams vs. Adiwang will likely command an opponent inside the talent-laden strawweight division’s top five next.
ONE Fight Night 18 is headlined by two-sport ONE Bantamweight World Champion Jonathan Haggerty, who will return to defend his Muay Thai belt for the first time since his shocking first round knockout over Thai legend Nong-O Hama.
The British star will face surging Brazilian powerhouse Felipe Lobo in a bantamweight Muay Thai grudge match.
The full fight card is still to be announced.
ONE Fight Night 19 announced bouts
ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title: Jonathan Haggerty (c) vs. Felipe Lobo
Bantamweight Muay Thai: Saemapetch Fairtex vs. Mohamed Younes Rabah
Strawweight MMA: Danial Williams vs. Lito Adiwang
Featherweight Muay Thai: Luke Lessei vs. Eddie Abasolo
