Demetrious Johnson served up a reminder that he’s still in the running as one of the sports all-time greats last night when he KO’d Adriano Moraes with a knee strike in their rematch at ONE On Prime Video 1 to win the flyweight title.
Johnson had previously fought Moraes for the title last year after winning One FC’s flyweight grand-prix. However, the fight didn’t go according to plan for ‘Mighty Mouse’ on that occasion, suffering a second round knockout due to a knee strike.
The 36-year-old Johnson avenged that loss last night in style late in the fourth round of their rematch as he sent Moraes reeling backwards with a clean right hand and then chased after him to land a big knee to the head against the cage that knocked him out.
It’s worth noting that over in ONE FC, flyweight is actually contested at 135lbs rather than the 125lb title limit set in the UFC, so in effect Johnson has now been a champion in two different weight classes during his career.
That only further cements his status as one of the sports best fighters, having previously gone on a 14-fight unbeaten stretch in the UFC, including 11 successful flyweight title defenses.
His latest success story might also leave the UFC brass blushing though since they traded ‘Mighty Mouse’ for ONE FC’s Ben Askren back in 2018, with their new recruit going on to become a major flop for the promotion, including infamously being KO’d by a Jorge Masvidal flying knee in just 5 seconds.
Main Card
Demetrious Johnson def. Adriano Moraes via KO (punch and knee) at 3:50 of Round 4
Nong-O Gaiyanghadao def. Liam Harrison via TKO (strikes) at 2:10 of Round 1 (Muay Thai)
Panpayak Jitmuangnon def. Savvas Michael via KO (strikes) at 0:10 of Round 2 (Muay Thai)
Marcus Almeida def. Kirill Grishenko via submission (heel hook) at 1:04 of Round 1
Amir Aliakbari def. Mauro Cerilli via TKO (strikes) at 4:02 of Round 2
Prelims
Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Walter Goncalves via KO (elbow) at 1:35 of Round 1 (Muay Thai)
Diandra Martin def. Amber Kitchen via unanimous decision (Muay Thai)
Itsuki Hirata def. Heqin Lin via unanimous decision
Zebaztian Kadestam def. Iuri Lapicus via KO (punch) at 0:57 of Round 1
