By CARLO ANOLIN
Filipino Robin Catalan suffered a first-round submission defeat at the hands of Japanese Ryuto Sawada in their strawweight clash in ONE: Unbreakable III at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Sawada restricted Catalan with his impressive grappling skills before finishing off the Filipino with a deep rear-naked choke, prompting referee Mohamad Sulaiman to stop the match at the 4:20 mark.
Meanwhile, rising star Fabricio “The Wonder Boy” Andrade proved himself to be a talent to watch out for as he defeated second-ranked Shoko Sato in the co-main event.
The 25-year-old Sawada showed who’s boss in ground game, taking down Catalan twice early on.
The Japanese grappler dominated the entirety of the match right after injury time at around the one minute mark, swiftly catching Catalan’s front kick en route to a counter takedown.
Sawada improved to a 14-5-1 record while victory remained to be elusive for the Catalan Fighting System as Robin slid to 10-7.
Catalan’s teammates Jhomary Torres and older brother Rene, also suffered back-to-back losses in ONE: Big Bang last December.
