Check out a young Adriano Moraes submitting Yasuhiro Urushitani in 2014

Multi-time ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist whose skills are feared by many fighters. 'Mikinho' has a 50% rate of finishing his fights by way of submission.

The Brazilian-born champion did not always carry the same significance that he does today. In his 2014 fight against Yasuhiro Urushitani, Moraes had just lost his debut in ONE and was looking to bounce back.

He faced the Japanese-born fighter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and this began his win streak in ONE Championship. ONE shared this fight on YouTube with the caption:

"NEXT-LEVEL Grappling 🤯 Adriano Moraes vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani | From The Archives ... Before flyweight king Adriano Moraes defends his crown against MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson, relive “Mikinho’s” incredible submission of Malaysian star Yasuhiro Urushitani in 2014!"

For much of this bout, Moraes struggled to get the fight off the feet. His takedown entries were not working and he could not initiate his grappling. Throughout the first round, the Brazilian fighter was willing to stand and bang but was often getting tagged.

In round two, Moraes wasted no time and immediately went for a powerful double-leg takedown against Urushitani. The Japanese fighter was working his way to his feet when the Brazilian took back mount and finished the fight with a rear-naked choke.

After this fight, the 33-year-old Brazilian went on to gain tremendous success in ONE Championship. He captured the ONE flyweight championship on three occasions and was able to defend this title multiple times.

---

Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson

Adriano Moraes continued to develop his standup and grappling game after this 2014 fight. His biggest moment came in 2021 when UFC record-holder 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson looked to collect another gold belt.

Instead, Moraes controlled the fight and defended his ONE flyweight title by knocking out Johnson in round two. This was the first time in history that anyone had stopped 'Mighty Mouse.'

The Brazilian spoke to Denise Salcedo regarding the fight and said:

“A lot of people got so shocked. A lot of people cannot believe it, and a lot of people sent messages saying ‘hey I lost money man’ [and] ‘hey, I received a lot of money with your win, thank you Adriano!’ But the main feeling was like, the people’s shocked. And that was good, you know, I could help ONE Championship [become a top trend in Twitter] when they tweeted about this knockout. I could help the company to go high, you know?”

Demetrious Johnson will look to avenge this loss when they fight a second time on ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II, which broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium and airs on US primetime via Amazon Prime Video on August 26.