Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang promised a thunderous return and he delivered.

The Filipino strawweight contender emphatically stopped Adrian “Papua Badboy” Matheis in just 23 seconds in his return bout at ONE Friday Fights 34 on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Coming back from an ACL injury which sidelined him for 18 months, Adiwang hardly missed a beat as he connected with a devastating right hand that landed straight on Mattheis’ chin and rocked the Indonesian.

Thunder Kid lived up to his moniker and unleashed a barrage of strikes, displaying his impeccable speed and quickness that forced the hand of referee Mohamad Sulaiman to wave the fight off in the first round.

It’s a promise fulfilled for Adiwang, who vowed a slugfest to set the tone for the night, which also featured the much awaited bout between ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon and top-ranked contender ”The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9.

And fans hardly had to wait, with Adiwang, now under Hiit Studio in Bali, pulling off the impressive technical knockout win.

The ONE Warrior Series winner also bucked the notion of the mental effects from his knee injury, hiking his record to 14-5 and sending a strong message to the rest of the strawweight division that he’s back and better than ever.