Demetrious Johnson got his revenge.
Sixteen months after suffering the first knockout defeat of his career, the all-time great returned the favor, knocking out Adriano Moraes with a savage two-shot combination to capture the ONE Championship flyweight title on Friday in the main event of ONE’s broadcast debut on Amazon Prime. The stoppage officially came at 3:50 of the fourth round, giving Johnson the distinction of becoming the first man to knock out Moraes.
“It feels good, baby,” Johnson said with a new gold belt around his waist.
Widely considered to be the greatest flyweight to ever compete, Johnson (31-4-1) came out aggressive in his rematch against Moraes (20-4), pushing the pace in an effort to counteract his obvious size disadvantage against the 5-foot-8 Brazilian. He sliced open a wide cut above the former champion’s left eye with an elbow from bottom position midway through the first round, and despite spending much of the opening 10 minutes stuck underneath Moraes, “Mighty Mouse” continued to push the pace, seizing momentum in Round 3 with fast footwork and a steady diet of digging hooks which drained Moraes’ gas tank.
The final sequence of the match was breathtaking after the fourth round. The 36-year-old legend blasted Moraes backward with a piston-fast counter right hand, then ended his night for good with a picture-perfect knee to the head as Moraes bounced off the fence.
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
“After a loss to him, this was the first time I was like, OK, I need this one back,” Johnson said.
“I truly believe that I’m still getting better at 36.”
With the win, Johnson moved his record in ONE Championship to 4-1, while Moraes’ record in the promotion fell to 11-4.
Below is the Complete ONE Championship.
Main card (Amazon Prime at 10 p.m. ET)
- Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson
- 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 | Watch finish
- Amir Aliakbari def. Mauro Cerilli via TKO (strikes) at 4:02 of Round 2
Preliminaries (Amazon Prime at 8 p.m. ET)
- 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 | Watch finish
