Demetrious Johnson says loss to Adriano Moraes made him ‘fall in love’ with jiu-jitsu again 

ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson recently added another glowing achievement to his legendary resume, winning gold at the 2023 World Master IBJFF Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Las Vegas.

As it turns out, we have Adriano Moraes to thank for reigniting Johnson’s passion for jiu-jitsu, which ultimately pushed him to join the prestigious tournament.

As seen in a highlight clip posted by FloGrappling of DJ’s spectacular performance, the 37-year-old MMA icon recalled a painful memory of losing to Moraes in the first of their three epic showdowns.

According to ‘Mighty Mouse’, the Brazilian BJJ black belt forced him to re-assess his skills. The AMC Pankration and Evolve MMA superstar figured he needed to sharpen his ground game to become an even greater version of himself:

“After I lost to Adriano the first time, I was like, ‘Okay, I want to work on my grappling game.’ And then I got back into gi, and then I started falling in love with it again. And I was like this is what it is.”

Watch the full video:

The eventual Johnson vs. Moraes trilogy began at ONE on TNT 1 in 2021, where DJ shockingly absorbed the first knockout loss of his career via a brutal grounded knee.

While most fans remember ‘Mikinho’s incredible finish, it is worth noting that he was actually dominating Johnson on the ground prior to the sensational KO. Moraes used his BJJ wizardry to control the American in their grappling exchanges.

The remarkable Johnson, of course, went on to avenge that setback by winning their next two duels. Moreover, it also made him fall in love with ‘The Gentle Art’ even more, and we’re all happy to witness Johnson’s greatness in the gi.