FREE FULL FIGHT: Adriano Moraes returns with clinical submission finish over old foe Danny Kingad at ONE 169
Former ONE flyweight MMA world champion Adriano Moraes returned from more than a year of layoff recently. He remained potent, fashioning out an impressive submission victory over Filipino Danny Kingad in their rematch.
'Mikinho' stopped 'The King' in the second round of their feature flyweight MMA showdown at ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug on Nov. 8 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Moraes, 36, displayed that his grappling game is still to contend with even at this stage of his illustrious career. He steadily put pressure on Kingad right from the get-go, making several attempts at submission.
But while his opponent did a good job in fending his attacks early on, it did not stop him from finding ways to break through, which came by way of a guillotine choke late in the second round for the win.
ONE Championship recently uploaded the full fight between Moraes and Kingad on its official YouTube channel for fight fans to relive and enjoy.
Check out the video below:
ONE 169 marked the first match back by Adriano Moraes, who was previously seen in his trilogy title fight against former flyweight king and now-retired Demetrious Johnson in May 2023 in the United States.
The match, too, saw the Brazilian superstar make it 2-0 in his head-to-head matchup with Kingad, who he defeated by opening-round submission in their first encounter way back in 2017.
The full replay of ONE 169 is available on demand to Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Adriano Moraes excited for what lies ahead for MMA in ONE Championship
Apart from making a winning return to action at ONE 169 on Nov. 8, Adriano Moraes is happy and looking forward as well to seeing MMA take center stage again in ONE Championship.
He shared this in a post-fight interview with the Bangkok Post following his impressive submission victory over Danny Kingad at the stacked event in Thailand, highlighting his belief that MMA in ONE is in for a "comeback," saying:
"I'm so happy. A lot of fighters have their fights coming up. In 2025, I think MMA is going to come hard in ONE Championship and I'm happy. I'm just praying to God every single day for this company to go forward and get bigger and bigger. I'm so happy that it's happening."
While MMA remains a steady fixture in ONE, it has found a steady complement with Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling in recent years. At ONE 169, five MMA matches were featured including Adriano Moraes-Danny Kingad II.