Johnson vs. Moraes 2 Preview
The ONE Flyweight championship is on the line Friday August 26th in Kallang, Singapore. Champion Adriano Moraes will defend his title in a rematch against former champion Demetrious Johnson.
The two fighters first met in 2021 with Moraes winning by a brutal second round KO via a knee which marked the first time Johnson had been finished in his storied career. Moraes is a three-time flyweight champion and overall has defended the title four times.
The Brazilian is ready to prove that the first fight with Johnson was not a fluke. “Yes, in Brazil we like to say ‘when the thing is good, you need to do it twice’ I can’t wait to shock the world again,” said Moraes.
Despite the confidence, the 33-year-old knows he is in for a tough fight. "This is the kind of fight that is very difficult to predict. Demetrious Johnson is a very smart guy, very tough, and I know he’s coming in very hungry for this rematch. I’m training a lot. I want to show my evolution as an athlete, so I believe I can get a submission in the fourth round.”
Defeating a MMA legend like Johnson was most certainly the biggest of Moraes’ career and adding a second victory could put him in the argument as the best 125 pound male fighter on the planet.
Johnson is 36 years old and has been fighting professionally since 2007 and has a career 30-4-1 record with 17 finishes. He won the inaugural Flyweight title in the UFC in 2012 and went on to defend the title 11 times. Before entering ONE FC he was already the greatest flyweight of all-time and was arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Now he can add one more milestone to his resume by becoming a two-time ONE FC flyweight champion.
Pundits have been saying that if Johnson loses to Moraes again it is likely time for him to retire. Johnson has other ideas about how long he will keep fighting. “I think three to four more years,” Johnson said. “I’ll probably keep on competing, depending on how my body feels. And after that, I want to spend as much time with my family and my kids. I love being a father. I love being a husband. I love being at home. That’s one of the things I truly cherish.”
The legend believes he will take a different approach to fights moving forward. “And I think as far as competition, I will focus on grappling just because you’re not taking brain trauma. … So I think I’ll focus more on grappling and go from there.”
When asked if Johnson will end his career with ONE FC as he is on his last fight with the organization he replied, “Yeah, I think so,” Johnson said. “I’m 36 years old. I got a couple of fights left on my contract, and I’m happy over here, so I don’t see why not.”
“Obviously, when I come to that bridge, and I have to cross it, obviously my mindset is going to be different. When I was 31 years old, and I thought I was going to stop at 35 just because I don’t know how my body is going to be like. But now that I’m 36, I feel great, and here I am still competing. So we’ll see what happens.”
Johnson feels he is in the proper mindset to avenge the loss against Moraes. "I think mentally, it’s healthy for athletes, it’s very important to go through those scenarios in your head because you know when people go, ‘Oh I’m never gonna lose dadadada.’ Trust me, I used to be one of those guys, then when I suffered my first loss against Brad Pickett I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, you can lose.’ So for me, I’m fully prepared and very confident in my skillset, very confident in my training for this fight and I’ll go out there and give it hell,” said Johnson.
“Mighty Mouse” has key victories in his career over a who’s who list of fighters including Wilson Reis, Tim Elliott, Henry Cejudo, John Dodson (twice), Kyoji Horiguchi, Ali Bagautinov, Joseph Benavidez (twice) and Ian McCall.
The main card can be seen on Amazon Prime starting at 10:00pm ET
