‘Vintage’ Demetrious Johnson Exacts Revenge On Adriano Moraes

Demetrious Johnson came to ONE Championship four years ago with one goal in mind—to win the promotion’s coveted flyweight title.

Johnson, who’s regarded by most fans and pundits as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, had the opportunity to put the said intricately-crafted hardware alongside the prestigious UFC flyweight belt in his trophy room when he challenged longtime division kingpin Adriano Moraes in April 2021.

However, Moraes flipped the script and shocked the world by scoring an upset victory over Johnson.

In their marquee rematch at ONE on Prime Video 1 on Friday, August 26 (Saturday, August 26 in Singapore), “Mighty Mouse” made sure that he would come home to the United States with the gold-plated strap around his waist this time around by exacting revenge on the man who handed him his first knockout defeat in his illustrious career.

The paying live audience inside the 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium was speechless as the 36-year-old native of Madisonville, Kentucky turned back the clock and returned to his vintage form by knocking Moraes out in the fourth round of their second cage encounter.

Johnson led the dance in the opening minutes of the scheduled five-round clash as he initiated exchanges on the feet and landed a couple of low kicks to offset the lankiness of Moraes.

However, Moraes managed to bring Johnson to his natural habitat as he scored a momentum-shifting takedown midway point of the first round and maintained a sturdy top control to prevent the American from escaping and getting back to his feet.

“Mighty Mouse” did everything he could to get to the escape door, including a short-but-crisp elbow strike, which opened a bloody cut above the right eye of Moraes.

Unfortunately for Johnson, the gruesome gash was seemingly a non-factor as Moraes held onto his dominant position on the ground to keep it in his favor until the bell.

Although “DJ” came out of his corner in the second frame with the intent to turn the tide by clobbering wild punches, Moraes was able to nullify his advances and would spend a significant portion of the period on top of Johnson with his ground game.

For the first time in his two-bout series versus Moraes, Johnson had the Brazilian champion hurt as the former UFC flyweight titleholder sustained a stand-up trade for the majority of the third stanza and got the better of exchange by hammering eye-catching combinations.

It was in Round Four, where Johnson put a definitive stamp on the world title tilt as he rocked Moraes with a stinging left jab.

As Moraes defenselessly lost his balance and his back touched the cage fence, Johnson launched himself through the air with a flying knee that landed flush to the chin of the Brazilian.

Johnson walked off as soon as Moraes unconsciously dropped to the canvas, prompting referee Olivier Coste to call a halt to the action at the 3:50 mark of the fourth round.

With the impressive performance versus Moraes, Johnson climbed to a 24-4 professional record and captured his sixth career win via knockout.

Now that the rivalry stands at 1-1, a rubber match between the two could be the next order of business to break the deadlock.

On the other hand, Moraes snapped his impressive three-fight winning streak with the heartbreaking setback at the hands of Johnson and dropped to a 20-4 standing.

In other matchups at ONE on Prime Video 1, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao successfully defended his bantamweight Muay Thai championship by chopping the legs of British challenger Liam Harrison to attain a quick first-round knockout.

Panpayak Jitmuangnon, who filled in for pound-for-pound king Rodtang Jitmuangnon on short notice, overcame insurmountable odds by knocking Savvas Michael out in Round Two to secure a seat in the finals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix finals.

Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida moved an inch closer to a possible shot at Arjan Bhullar’s ONE heavyweight championship as he submitted Kirill Grishenko with a wrenching heel hook in the very first round.

Amir Aliakbari finally arrested his two-fight losing skid in ONE Championship by overcoming former heavyweight title challenger Mauro Cerilli via second-round technical knockout.

Superlek Kiatmoo9 booked the first ticket to the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix finals by making quick work of Walter Goncalves via first-round knockout.

In a 58-kilogram catchweight tussle, Diandra Martin outlasted Amber Kitchen to walk away with a unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, Itsuki Hirata returned to her winning ways by cruising to a unanimous decision against Lin Heqin in a 54-kilogram catchweight bout.

The curtain-raising contest of ONE on Prime Video 1 set the tone for an action-packed card as former welterweight champion Zebaztian Kadestam only needed 57 seconds to thwart Iuri Lapicus with a one-punch knockout in their 86-kilogram catchweight clash.