The Mighty Mouse Stands Tall Once Again
Demetrious Johnson has once again proven to the world why he is easily one of the very greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time. The ONE Championship athlete regained his Championship Flyweight status fighting Adriano Moraes. Adriano himself is a dangerous submission expert from Brazil. His last encounter with Demetrious ended in a second round Knockout via knees and punches. However, the former 11 time defending MMA Flyweight Champion returned the favor last Friday by reclaiming his title.
All right !!! I’m okay! Congratulations to @MightyMouse and thank you for a great fight. It’s was honor share the circle again with you, see you in a trilogy match !! 1×1
— Adriano Moraes (@adrianomkmoraes) August 27, 2022
ONE Championship had one of its biggest cards of the year with two of their superstars Moraes and DJ. They will be fighting each other at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore this Friday. With few other major events the MMA fans and world as a whole looked to ONE Championship’s first endeavor on the Amazon Prime platform. The entire event was a huge success with many fighters receiving payouts and bonuses for their performances. Not to mention that the entire event was streamed live on YouTube as well.
Demetrious Johnson claims the ONE flyweight title with a walk-off knee KO ? #ONEonPrimeVideo1
(via @ONEChampionship) pic.twitter.com/Ro46dvdAKR
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 27, 2022
“Mighty Mouse” vs “Mikinho” 1
“Mikinho” (The Black Diamond) has been a tough competitor for Demetrious Johnson. Who seems nigh unbeatable in his current form and recent performance. DJ is famously every fighter’s pick for current pound for pound all-round champion. However Moraes put a stop to DJs’ near flawless career since joining ONE. Giving the Former UFC fighter a real challenge in their previous encounter. After gauging Demetrious for a round and circling him into a trap Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes had knocked out the flyweight champion and taken the belt for himself.
Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnson vs Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes II
In the main event at One Championship on Saturday, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson earned complete redemption against Adriano Moraes. And though the fight may have a trilogy to seal all doubts, DJ came out looking like the Champion we remember from the UFC. The American knocked out his nemesis and snatched the ONE Flyweight Title in the process. Earning a US$50k performance bonus for his brilliant display of mixed martial arts on the night.
Loving this Adriano Moraes vs Demetrious Johnson 2 artwork by @MFoccillo!
The rematch goes down this weekend on the ONE on Prime Video 1 main event.#ONEChampionship#ONEonPrimeVideo1 pic.twitter.com/xWjgzXElv3
— Asian Persuasion MMA (@APMMA_net) August 23, 2022
ONE On Prime Video 1: Moraes Vs. Johnson II
Round 1
Both fighters start very similarly though the tables have turned somewhat with Demetrius circling Moraes and gauging his changes and improvements from the last encounter. They both use leg kicks and jabs to see each other’s reactions. Adriano gets the takedown after some showboating from DJ. He uses the top position to wear out the Mighty Mouse while using knees and his well-known grappling. He positions DJ into a submission, who responds with the same in return. The round ends with both fighters on the ground. Adriano has a cut above his eye.
Round 2
Round 2 saw both fighters focus more on their striking. Moraes making a few good early strikes to the face of DJ. A kick from Moraes wobbles Dj and he attempts a submission but doesn’t find a clean hold. DJ manages to reverse it back to the feet with Moraes in the clench. But “the Black Diamond ” makes a high IQ takedown by countering a high kick. The fight returns to the ground with DJ showing his resilience to Moraes’ extreme pressure. DJ retaliates, still in guard position with lots of heel kicks while Moraes is standing, preventing him from further pressure.
Round 3
Moraes continued pressuring DJ with leg kicks and response checks and parries. The fight still looks fairly sided towards Moraes. However, DJ starts responding in stronger fashion with dangerous striking and flying knees to put the pain on Moraes’ body. DJ keeps pressuring Moraes with faster combinations and accurate and patient strikes all the while walking down Adriano. Every time Moraes finds himself on the cage side DJ would launch into a combination that Moraes would have a lot of difficulty avoiding. The cut above Moraes eye seemingly worsened. The round easily favored Demetrious.
Round 4
Demetrious starts the round much more aggressively and pushes Moraes towards the cage. He keeps attacking with powerful combos all the while parrying lots of “Mikinho’s” strikes. Johnson takes some damage in the clench but then returns the same pressure to Moraes. Mikinho lands a few slicing elbows and manages to unbalance Johnson in a significant manner. But DJ returns the fight to the center and starts walking down the Flyweight Champion. Moraes keeps attacking with kicks while waiting for Demetrious to overextend. Demetrious however lands a perfectly clean punch to the temple of The Champion Moraes and follows it up with a lethal knee to the face while Moraes is crumbling to the ground. Adriano is knocked out and Demetrious Johnson stands tall.
View this post on Instagram
RDX congratulates the living legend Demetrious Johnson! He is once again being at the top of his game while only getting better. We foresee his career only beginning to create a whole lot of traction at ONE Championship. Both will grow exponentially for this amazing collaboration. Though Demetrious has come out victorious in this match, a trilogy is needed to settle the beef and prove once and for all who will stand tall between “the Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson and “Mikinho, The Black Diamond” Adriano Moraes.