Adiwang, Catalan lose by submission

Photo from ONE Championship

The Philippines suffered a pair of blackeyes in ONE Championship’s Next Gen III in Singapore on Friday night.

Lito Adiwang, Team Lakay’s resurgent strawweight, faltered against the debuting Jarred Brooks by way of arm triangle in the second round in the main event at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Filipino striker found himself groping for control early as the UFC veteran immediately brought the action onto the ground.

Adiwang battled more of the same strategy in the second round, where his loudmouthed opponent slammed him, paving the way for the finishing choke which also snapped the Filipino’s back-to-back victories this year.

“Lito will surely [bounce back],” Team Lakay ringmaster Mark Sangiao wrote after the bout. “To be unsuccessful is not fatal, [being] incapable of learning is.”

Adiwang dropped to a 13-4 record, which could affect his status as the fifth-ranked contender in his weight class.

Meanwhile, Rene Catalan continues to have no answer to the puzzle that is former strawweight champion Alex Silva.

Catalan fell to 6-5 slate, plunging him to a three-match slide in the Asian promotion.

Unable to land a combination, Catalan found himself down on the mat where he was rendered inutile by Silva, who laced a slick arm bar that would finish the fight in just under four minutes in the first round. Silva thus extended his mastery of the Catalan family.

Silva had also beaten Catalan via arm bar in the first round of their 2013 encounter. The Brazilian also scored first-round victories over Catalan brothers Ruel (via knee bar in 2015) and Robin (via arm triangle in 2016).