Lito Adiwang had a dose of reality after suffering his second defeat from a submission, this time against a cage veteran in Jarred Brooks in their strawweight bout in ONE: NEXTGEN III at the Singapore Indoor Stadium Friday night, Nov. 26.
Adiwang put up a fight and showed tenacity despite receiving ground and pound and wrestling punishment from the UFC veteran.
But it only took one move for Brooks to assert dominance on top position down the canvas for him to execute a slick arm triangle submission which forced referee Olivier Coste to halt the match at the 3:07 mark of the second round.
"This is not my night again. I got a learning experience," admitted Adiwang, who fell to a 13-4 record. "I had him. I know he's tired. I can feel he's tired. It's just that his last move's already there. I got caught, that's it. Congrats, congrats to Jarred Brooks."
READ: Brooks calls out Pacio, Minowa after victorious ONE debut
Unlike his controversial split decision loss to Hiroba Minowa, Brooks made sure to make his presence felt not only in front of Adiwang but also to the whole strawweight division.
The last time that Adiwang yielded to a submission loss was against Roy Doliguez via rear-naked choke in the URCC back in April 2013.
After tasting numerous wins, the Team Lakay stalwart is back at ground zero anew.
"I learned to just push it, man. Don't wait for the opportunity," added Adiwang, the No. 5 contender. "I know he's gonna be tired soon. That's it, after that guillotine , I know he's tired. I know I hit you (Brooks) on the thigh, but he said it's a low blow. I almost had him, man."
Brooks, for his part, improved to a 16-2 record and his win might make a clear difference in the strawweight's Top 5 rankings.