Adriano Moraes’ 3 best weapons heading into trilogy with Demetrious Johnson

Adriano Moraes is no stranger to trilogies and would love to close out his rivalry with Demetrious Johnson on a winning note.

The biggest grudge match of ‘Mikinho’s storied career will take place at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video. The event is set for May 5 at the 1stBank Center in Colorado, where Moraes will attempt to reclaim the ONE flyweight world title from ‘Mighty Mouse’.

The promotion's historic on-site United States debut is certainly the perfect avenue for a matchup of this magnitude. While American fans will no doubt be backing the hometown favorite Johnson for this one, counting out Moraes would be a foolish mistake.

The Brazilian has won 11 of his 15 bouts inside the circle, with eight of those victories coming via spectacular finishes.

With that in mind, here are Moraes’ three biggest weapons in his third and perhaps final date with Johnson.

The trilogy of the century will air live in US primetime and free for all Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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#3. Mental edge

Going up against the prolific Johnson is a tall order for anyone. After all, he has no holes in his game and is considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time.

Despite ‘DJ’s glowing resume, though, Moraes remains unfazed knowing he already gave the flyweight king the worst defeat of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

The durable Johnson has only been knocked out once, and that was at the hands of ‘Mikinho’ at ONE on TNT 1 in 2021. The American Top Team standout took away Johnson’s cloak of invincibility with a crushing uppercut followed by a knee to the jaw heard around the world.

Although ‘DJ’ returned the favor with his own flying knee KO in the rematch, Moraes was dominating that fight as well before getting caught in the fourth round.

After becoming the first fighter to finish the seemingly untouchable 135-pound kingpin, Moraes will enter this trilogy with a lot of confidence.

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#2. Massive reach advantage

Moraes is a massive flyweight fighter and he uses every bit of that size discrepancy over his opponents to his full advantage.

The Brazilian has a wingspan of 70.08 inches and a leg reach of 37.01 inches, which makes ‘DJ’s modest measurements of 66.93 and 35.83 inches, respectively, look pale in comparison.

In their first encounter, the 34-year-old effectively kept Johnson at bay using his long frame. He scored with punches and kicks at a distance where the AMC Pankration product could not fight back.

Even ‘Mighty Mouse’ admitted that Moraes’ masterful use of his reach and fluid movement gave him problems.

Sure, Johnson made his adjustments and was able to close the distance in the rematch, but the patient Moraes has so many tools in his arsenal to regain the upper hand in their third meeting.

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#1. Moraes is a submission grappling wizard

A big part of Johnson’s success over the years is his elite wrestling background, which carried over upon his transition to mixed martial arts. While ‘Mighty Mouse’ was able to outwrestle every opponent he has ever faced, Moraes has been his kryptonite in that regard.

Using his size advantage and elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree, Moraes has pretty much outclassed the champ on the ground in their first two fights. The BJJ black belt has had his way with Johnson so far, not allowing him to slither out of bad spots using crushing top pressure.

He’s also a submission hunter of the highest order, capable of tapping out anyone from any position. Moraes has seven submission wins inside the circle, including over formidable opponents like Yuya Wakamatsu, Danny Kingad, and Geje Eustaquio, among others.

While Johnson has never been submitted before, let’s not forget he’'d previously never been knocked out either until Moraes took that away from him.