Johnson beats Moraes in trilogy bout to retain ONE title
MMA legend Demetrious Johnson put a bow on his trilogy with Adriano Moraes on Friday night.
Johnson defeated Moraes via unanimous decision to retain the ONE Championship flyweight title in the ONE Fight Night 10 main event in Broomfield, Colorado.
The third meeting between Johnson and Moraes played out much differently than their first two fights. In April 2021, Moraes shocked Johnson with a second-round knockout to remain ONE flyweight champion. In their August 2022 rematch, Johnson got revenge with a fourth-round knockout to capture the belt.
This time, it was a competitive five-round affair that mostly took place in the stand-up department. The first two rounds were extremely close with minimal action. Johnson did his best work and separated himself from Moraes in the third and fourth rounds. "Mighty Mouse" mixed it up on the feet by landing knees to Moraes' body and elbows to his head, and he landed shots in the clinch.
ONE Championship, an Asia-based promotion that was making its long-awaited U.S. debut Friday, scores its fights as a whole, not round-by-round like most major MMA promotions. ONE also uses a unique ruleset in which knees to the heads of grounded opponents are legal.
"The first time we fought, I wasn't prepared for the game plan," Johnson said in his postfight interview. "The second fight, I was able to walk (Moraes) down and close the distance. This fight, I was able to close the distance, but I know he was trying to use the elbow and that knee. So I wanted to be very cautious."
Johnson told theScore in April that the trilogy bout against Moraes could be his final pro appearance in MMA. He was noncommittal about his future after the victory.
"Do you guys want me to keep on fighting?" Johnson asked the crowd at 1stBank Center. "I got to talk to my wife first and I'll get back to you guys, OK?"
With the victory, Johnson recorded his first successful title defense in ONE, and he's now defended titles in both ONE and the UFC. The 36-year-old was the inaugural UFC flyweight champion and defended that belt a record 11 consecutive times before falling to Henry Cejudo in 2018. Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.
After he lost the UFC flyweight title, Johnson was traded to ONE for Ben Askren. He won the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix in 2019 to set up the first fight with Moraes. Johnson now sits at 5-1 in the promotion.
Moraes suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his veteran career. The Brazilian is a former three-time flyweight champion. He falls to 10-6 in ONE.