The Brazilian made history in April 2021.
Adriano Moraes made history in his first fight against Demetrious Johnson at ONE on TNT 1.
The Brazilian was the clear underdog, with Mighty Mouse expected by most – if not close to everyone – to claim his first ONE world title.
However, the manner of Moraes’ victory was both brutally swift and professionally measured, with Johnson left knocked out cold in the second round, with a knee delivered to his chin.
The fight was originally planned for April 11 2020, but with the coronavirus pandemic about to hit one of its worst and most deadly periods, the fight was put back as Moraes looked to make his first fight of a new, two-year contract.
It would take slightly less than a year for the fight to come through. At TNT 1 on April 7, 2021, the franchise decamped to the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang.
Johnson was on the back foot for much of the first round, with some early exchanges giving way to Moraes dominating on the ground, with the man on top looking for openings while Johnson threw out a series of defensive strikes from a prone position.
Moraes, the bigger man, had shown that he would have the upper hand on the ground, and at the start of the second round there were kicks from both men, and Johnson cycled through various stances to keep Moraes on his toes, but he was rarely in trouble.
A swift blow from his right hand sent Johnson down, and as he attempted to rise back to rejoin the fight, he was struck with a knee that would be against the rules of many other MMA disciplines. Not so in ONE, and victory was Moraes', as he became the first man to ever knock out Demetrious Johnson.
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