Demetrious Johnson admits he’s never fought in the clinch as he did against Adriano Moraes

Even at the age of 36 and over a decade into the sport of mixed martial arts, ONE flyweight world champion ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson continues to showcase new facets of his game.

Against former flyweight king ‘Mikinho’ Adriano Moraes a couple of weeks ago at ONE Fight Night 10, Johnson once again put skills fans have never seen on full display.

Johnson employed a tactical clinch game, nullifying Moraes’ height and reach advantage masterfully en route to a unanimous decision victory at the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on May 5 this year.

Speaking to MMA Junkie in a recent guest appearance, Johnson talked about how he was able to give fans an entirely different look with his clinch arsenal.

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‘Mighty Mouse’ said:

“You know, we’ve never spent that much time in the clinch game, we maybe just spent a little bit. But maybe, my game has evolved around the clinch, so, I’ve had 18 years in the clinch. But other than that it was good, man.” [4:25 onwards]

In the clinch, Johnson was as brutal as he was technical. The veteran athlete hit his Brazilian counterpart with a variety of inside strikes including elbows, shoulder bumps, and the occasional flying knee. Whenever ‘Mikinho’ tried to break apart and create distance, Johnson would close the gap and bring him back into the clinch with relative ease.

It was no doubt a beauty to watch from a technical standpoint, as Moraes simply had no answer across five rounds of action.

Fans in the United States and Canada can relive the drama of the ONE Fight Night 10 main event and all of the epic bouts via replay on Amazon Prime Video.

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