"He might have been too playful" - Lito Adiwang shares conflicted reaction to Rodtang's latest performance

Filipino strawweight MMA star Lito Adiwang does not know what to feel about former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon's performance against Jacob Smith at ONE 169 on Nov. 8.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, 'Thunder Kid' had this to say when asked about Rodtang's latest showing:

"Yes. First, I think he became a bit more playful, which I think is okay. It's okay to do that to show that he's not one-sided and just fighting serious all the time. But I think the negative side of it is he might have been too playful. I agree with moves that when your opponent misses, sure, you can showboat. But after that, I don't want too much hugging."

He continued:

"Just go finish the job. I think he went a bit overboard."

This fight was supposed to be Rodtang's sixth defense of the flyweight Muay Thai crown. However, he was stripped of the gold for missing weight by half a pound.

Similar to their May 2022 encounter in the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix quarterfinals, 'The Iron Man' battered Smith en route to the unanimous decision to prevent the United Kingdom star from ascending to the now-vacant 135-pound flyweight Muay Thai throne.

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Jacob Smith shares what went wrong against Rodtang at ONE 169

Despite looking like an absolute monster in his last two outings against Denis Puric and Walter Goncalves, Jacob Smith appeared to be gunshy when he rematched Rodtang at ONE 169.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post following ONE 169, the 32-year-old expressed regret about not making the most out of his opportunity, saying:

"It's just one of those things. I knew what I needed to do but at the same time, it's hard to take risks."