Demetrious Johnson was happy with his performance despite lack of finish

Demetrious Johnson exited the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado with his ONE flyweight world title in tow after besting his rival Adriano Moraes in arguably the biggest trilogy match in the promotion’s rich history last weekend.

Given the poetic ending to their first two encounters, where the two flyweight greats traded stunning knockouts by way of highlight reel-worthy knee strikes, a lot of fans and pundits alike were expecting a grand finish in their grudge match.

However, Johnson vs. Moraes III turned out to be the complete opposite. It was a slow-paced technical showdown for the full 25 minutes, as the bigger Moraes tried to impose his will by backing ‘DJ’ up the circle wall.

‘Mighty Mouse’, for his part, welcomed the clinch battle and used it to his full advantage, assaulting ‘Mikinho’ with methodical shots to the body in closed range.

Demetrious Johnson’s aggressiveness eventually earned him the nod in the judges' scorecards, walking away with the clear unanimous decision victory.

Despite the rather anticlimactic conclusion to his final meeting with Adriano Moraes, Johnson was satisfied with how the fight went.

The 36-year-old legend shared in the post-event press conference:

“I’m happy with my performance, I beat him up a lot in the clinch and I was hurting him a lot and he did a good job of holding. Herb Dean did a good job of breaking us up, but at the same time I was like ‘Herb I’m breaking the body up, give me my opportunity to get his hands down.”

After sticking the fork in his epic rivalry with Adriano Moraes, Johnson once again eluded questions about his retirement and said he wants more time to think things through.

One thing’s for sure, the best flyweight in the world still has a lot of fight left in him.

Fans in the United States and Canada with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch the entire ONE Fight Night 10 card free of charge.