“You know I’m next in line to fight you” - Kairat Akhmetov calls his shot against Demetrious Johnson 

Following the events of ONE on Prime Video 1, Kairat Akhmetov is staking his claim as the rightful No. 1 contender to the newly crowned ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson.

‘Mighty Mouse’ delivered a world-class performance against former champion Adriano Moraes to capture his first piece of ONE Championship gold. ‘The Kazakh’ is now sharing his intent to be the first man to challenge the new flyweight king.

After Johnson’s spectacular fourth-round knockout of Moraes, Akhmetov took to Instagram and issued a challenge to 'DJ':

“Congratulations on a great fight and [winning the] championship belt, DJ. Nothing but respect, you are a legend of this sport. But you know I’m next in line to fight you.”

Kairat Akhmetov’s claim is not without merit. The former world champion is currently riding a five-fight win streak that began in 2018. During that time, his most notable wins have come against Reece McLaren, Danny Kingad, and most recently, Tatsumitsu Wada.

His stellar run in the promotion also includes victories over former world champions Adriano Moraes and Geje Eustaquio:

“After five victories in five fights, I am the top contender for the belt. I’m the only [contender] you haven’t met yet. Let’s have this fight when you’re ready, champ.”

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Demetrious Johnson open to facing Kairat Akhmetov or completing the trilogy with Adriano Moraes

Even before Johnson and Moraes met inside the Circle for the second time at ONE on Prime Video 1, the media was asking about a potential trilogy bout. With both fighters now holding a knockout victory over the other, a third meeting seems like the likeliest scenario, but the new flyweight champion is more than willing to give Kairat Akhmetov his moment in the spotlight:

“You know, I wouldn’t mind giving Kairat Akhmetov a chance, but it’s up to ONE Championship. At the beginning of this, I didn’t even know I was going to get a title shot. I thought after I beat Rodtang I was going to go down to fight whoever was next in line, work my way back up the ladder, but Kairat Akhmetov, mad respect to him, he’s on, like, a five or six-fight win streak.”

Johnson admitted that he thought Akhmetov would be the next man up after he himself lost to ‘Mikinho’ at ONE on TNT 1 in April 2021:

“I thought he was going to get the title shot against Adriano, but they called me and said this is who you’re fighting next and I said, ‘Okay. Sounds good.’”