ONE Championship: Adriano Moraes sees Demetrious Johnson succeeding at strawweight
Adriano Moraes faced Demetrious Johnson in a ONE Championship super bout in April 2021. 'Mikinho' shocked the world by overcoming Johnson with a second-round knockout and retained the flyweight championship belt.
Defeating Johnson is something that Moraes is proud of and 'Mikinho' still marvels at his professional record highlighting the win over the legend.
Demetrious Johnson 🆚 Adriano Moraes ended with a SHOCKING KNOCKOUT! @adrianomkmoraes #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship https://t.co/TIY3CUqeLR
"Win Demetrious Johnson by knockout, right? It’s really sweet. I worked hard for it. When you worked hard and had discipline, dedication– everything gonna happen. Can take time but it’s going to happen," said Moraes in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
The Brazilian champion feels that Johnson would do great if he went down in weight and competed against the best in the strawweight division.
"I think so that it is going to be a good idea for him. I think he is looking for a belt. He have a fight scheduled already with Rodtang, let’s see what’s going to happen. I think Rodtang is the same size or a little bit taller than him. Let’s see what’s going to happen."
The strawweight division is one of the most stacked categories in ONE Championship, with Team Lakay fighter Joshua Pacio dominating for a long time.
Johnson moved to Asia to find better competition after he dominated the UFC flyweight division for a while. There is no strawweight category in the UFC and it will be interesting to see what 'Mighty Mouse' can do in that weight class.
Adriano Moraes describes his perfect 2022 in ONE Championship
Adriano Moraes had only one fight in 2021 against Demetrious Johnson. With the pandemic halting him from having more fights, he hopes that 2022 will make him step inside the ONE Championship ring more often.
The 32-year-old MMA veteran has a few wishes to make his 2022 a perfect one.
"Perfect year is to still be the champion. A good three good wins or two good wins. I come back home to see my mom happy, see my friends and everybody happy and i think it is going to be a perfect year for me."