Demetrious Johnson bringing much-improved grappling to Adriano Moraes rematch at ONE 161

Demetrious Johnson says he is working tirelessly on improving his grappling game ahead of his world title rematch at ONE 161.

Adriano Moraes was able to out-work and knock out Johnson when they first met in 2021. Now, ‘Mighty Mouse’ says he is looking to avenge the defeat and claim the belt, with his improved grappling skills being a key factor in the fight.

While speaking in an interview with ONE Championship, Johnson said he found some issues with his previous training routine. 'Mighty Mouse' explained:

“Training is going great. I already feel like I’m in great shape. I will say the biggest thing is because I joined a jiu-jitsu school. And now I’m training pure jiu-jitsu. Usually, when I’m in not in fight camp, the gym that I trained at is so far away. It’s basically an hour and 15 minutes away."

But now, ahead of the rematch, Johnson says he changed jiu-jitsu gyms to a location a little closer to home. Johnson said:

“I found a legit jiu-jitsu gym under a new professor Yan McCane – a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for 10 years. [He’s an] absolute monster. Very knowledgeable. Now, I’ve been doing a lot more jiu-jitsu because it’s eight minutes from my house and a gold mine for me because it kind of breathes life back into my development.”

The Brazilian world champion Adriano Moraes has had a very impressive tenure in ONE. He is coming off a submission victory over highly ranked Yuya Wakamatsu to make it four total world title defenses.

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Demetrious Johnson, Adriano Moraes and jiu-jitsu

Despite earning the knockout in their first meeting, Adriano Moraes says that this time he will be aiming for a submission victory.

Speaking to SCMP Martial Arts, Moraes said jiu-jitsu will play a major role in the rematch.

"Submit this time. If I got one knockout and one submission, for me, that's going to be perfect... The most important thing I always train is my jiu jitsu. Because jiu-jitsu is in infinity so I need to train hard in jiu jitsu.

Watch the interview below:

MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson is in the right frame of mind, and is looking improve his jiu-jitsu ahead of his world title rematch. He wants to be as prepared as possible for a potential ground war.

'Mighty Mouse' will be seeking revenge at ONE 161, but the Brazilian reigning world champion will not be giving up his belt without a fight.

The August 26th event is also historic as it will be the first event ONE will broadcast on the global streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video. Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson II will headline the event which will be broadcast in US prime time.